GIFT    OF 
JANE  KO FATHER 


JOHN   HANCOCK 
THE    PICTURESQUE    PATRIOT 


BY  LORENZO  SEARS,  L.H.D. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  ORATORY  FROM  THE  AGE  OF  PERICLES 
TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME 

THE  OCCASIONAL  ADDRESS:   ITS  COMPOSITION  AND  LIT 
ERATURE.    A  STUDY  IN  DEMONSTRATIVE  ORATORY 

PRINCIPLES  AND  METHODS  OF  LITERARY  CRITICISM 

AMERICAN  LITERATURE  IN  THE  COLONIAL  AND  NATIONAL 
PERIODS 

SEVEN  NATURAL  LAWS  OF  LITERARY  COMPOSITION 
MAKERS  OF  AMERICAN  LITERATURE 
WENDELL  PHILLIPS,  ORATOR  AND  AGITATOR 
JOHN  HANCOCK,  THE  PICTURESQUE  PATRIOT 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PACK 

I.  AN  INSURGENT  TOWN                                        i 

II.    HOME  AND  SCHOOL 12 

III.  IN  HARVARD  COLLEGE 26 

IV.  BOSTON  AND  BUSINESS       .        .  44 
V.    IN  LONDON 68 

VI.    BACK  TO  BOSTON 86 

VII.  GROWTH  OF  HANCOCK'S  PATRIOTISM  .        .      99 

VIII.  ENTRANCE  UPON  PUBLIC  LIFE    .        .        .119 

IX.    TAXED  TEA 133 

X.  PROVINCIAL  CONGRESS        .        .        .        .149 

XL  LOVERS  IN  LEXINGTON        .        .        .        .161 

XII.  ON  THE  ROAD  TO  CONGRESS      .        .        .169 

XIII.  IN  THE  SECOND  CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS  .     177 

XIV.  A  WEDDING 199 

XV.  PRESIDENT  OF  CONGRESS    ....    209 

XVI.  EXPEDITION  TO  RHODE  ISLAND  .        .        .249 

XVII.  FIRST  GOVERNOR  UNDER  THE  CONSTITUTION    265 

XVHI.  TREASURER  OF  HARVARD  COLLEGE     .        .    302 

XIX.    LAST  YEARS 314 

XX.    AN  ESTIMATE 331 

INDEX  .        . 345 


A  W  Eicon  A  Co.,Boston. 


THE    PICTURESQUE    PATRIOT 

JOHN    HANCOCK 

From  the  Painting  by  John  Singleton  Copley 
Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  Boston 


LUK.C  N  /  • ) 

AUTHOR    01     ';im     HISTORY    OF    ORATORY,' 


you   are, 


JTTLE,   BROWN,   AND   ' 


JOHN  HANCOCK 

THE    PICTURESQUE    PATRIOT 


BY 

LORENZO   SEARS 

OF     "  THE    HISTORY    OF    OR, 

"  AMERICAN    LITERATURE,''    "WENDELL 

PHILLIPS,"     ETC. 


"  Greatly  favored  and  blessed  of  Providence  will  you 
be  if  you  should  in  your  lifetime  be  known  for  what 
you  are."  — WALTER  SAVAGE  LANDOK. 


BOSTON 
LITTLE,  BROWN,   AND    COMPANY 


Copyright,  1912, 
BY  LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY. 


All  rights  reserved. 
Published,  October,  1912. 


S.  J.  PABKHILL  *  Co.,  BOSTON.  U.  8.  a, 


TO 

A.  H.  S. 


286060 


PREFACE 

JOHN  HANCOCK'S  famous  signature  has  made 
him  more  widely  known  than  most  other  and  later 
signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Yet 
less  is  commonly  known  about  him  than  concern 
ing  other  prominent  patriots  of  the  Revolution. 
He  was  active  and  conspicuous  in  his  time ;  but  he 
left  few  materials  for  a  biography,  and  these  for 
the  most  part  in  remote  hiding  places.  John 
Adams  once  remarked,  "The  Life  of  John  Han 
cock  will  not  ever  be  written."  Twenty  years  later, 
when  political  disagreements  were  overlooked, 
Adams  wrote,  "  If  I  had  the  forces  I  should  be 
glad  to  write  a  volume  of  Mr.  Hancock's  life, 
character,  and  generous  nature." 

One  hundred  and  three  years  had  passed  after 
the  death  of  its  first  Governor,  in  1793,  when  the 
Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  dedicated  a  mon 
ument  to  his  memory  in  the  old  Granary  Burying 
Ground  near  Boston  Common.  On  this  occasion 
Governor  Wolcott  remarked  with  regret  upon  the 
neglect  which  had  allowed  the  grave  of  a  man  who 
played  so  large  a  part  in  the  Revolutionary  period 
to  remain  unmarked  by  any  enduring  monument. 
In  editing  letters  from  Hancock's  Letter-Book, 
extending  over  a  period  of  twenty  years  of  com 
mercial  activity,  Abram  English  Brown  assigned 


viii  Preface 

among  reasons  why  Hancock's  biography  had 
never  been  written :  "  He  left  no  descendants. 
His  numerous  relatives  received  and  enjoyed  his 
great  wealth;  but  neither  pride  nor  gratitude  in 
cited  them  to  the  work  of  writing  the  life  of  their 
benefactor.  His  unremitting  toils  and  sacrifices 
for  the  public  good  may  have  been  so  far  over 
shadowed  by  his  unaccountable  management  of 
the  treasury  of  Harvard  College  as  to  deter  any 
man  of  that  institution  from  undertaking  the  work. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  some  pen  is  now  at  work 
upon  an  adequate  history  of  John  Hancock  which 
the  public  will  welcome  before  many  years." 

Among  the  Chamberlain  manuscripts  in  the  Bos 
ton  Public  Library  is  a  newspaper  clipping,  dated 
February  n,  1884,  which  states  that  materials  for 
a  biography  were  once  collected,  but  later  pur 
chased  for  a  thousand  dollars  and  suppressed ;  a 
statement  which,  if  true,  adds  interest  to  the  par 
ticulars  of  a  career  that  can  now  be  well  understood 
from  authentic  sources. 

Prominent  as  Hancock  was  in  his  day  and  gen 
eration,  his  services  to  his  own  State  and  to  the 
country  were  of  a  nature  to  be  overshadowed  by 
more  noticeable  exploits  and  achievements,  mili 
tary  and  civil ;  and  the  accounts  of  his  doings  are 
often  incidental  and  fragmentary  in  the  records  of 
the  period. 

Hancock  has  been  called  picturesque  not  as 
qualifying  his  patriotism,  but  as  recognizing  a  fea 
ture  which  has  its  own  interest  in  a  movement  that 


Preface  ix 

generally  lacked  this  element.  Yet  he  was  more 
than  a  bit  of  color  in  a  sombre  landscape.  He 
was  the  earliest  considerable  sufferer  from  com 
mercial  oppression ;  the  first  aristocrat  of  Boston 
to  join  a  party  which  had  little  property  to  lose ; 
one  of  the  two  whom  royal  displeasure  excluded 
from  pardon  ;  often  chairman  of  liberty  meetings ; 
a  member  of  the  Great  and  General  Court ;  deputy 
to  the  Provincial  Congresses  and  presiding  officer ; 
also  deputy  to  the  Continental  Congress  and  for 
two  and  a  half  years  its  President;  the  first  Gov 
ernor  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  and 
ten  times  re-elected.  His  large  contributions  to  the 
Revolutionary  cause;  his  skilful  guidance  of  dis 
cordant  statesmen  into  agreement  in  a  critical 
time;  his  efficient  service  in  retaining  the  French 
good-will  when  its  threatened  loss  would  have  en 
tailed  eventual  defeat  at  Yorktown ;  his  influence 
in  securing  the  ratification  of  the  Constitution  by 
Massachusetts,  and  in  consequence  by  a  majority 
of  the  States, — all  these  services  and  responsi 
bilities  together  made  him  a  man  to  be  reckoned 
with  in  a  troubled  period.  Also  to  be  courted  and 
flattered.  If  he  was  vain,  he  had  contributors  to 
his  vanity ;  if  he  loved  popularity,  he  paid  a  good 
price  for  it;  if  he  was  fond  of  display,  he  could 
afford  it  out  of  his  own  purse ;  if  he  neglected  the 
affairs  of  a  needy  college  in  the  pressure  of  na 
tional  business,  he  also  neglected  his  own,  receiv 
ing  no  compensation  as  other  presidents  did.  He 
was  human  but  self-respecting ;  courtly  and  cour- 


x  Preface 

teous;  an  aristocrat  with  sympathies  for  common 
people ;  benevolent  and  hospitable  ;  a  man  for  his 
time  without  whom  the  results  of  what  at  first  was 
an  unpopular  struggle  might  have  been  otherwise 
than  they  finally  were.  He  at  least  deserves  recog 
nition  in  a  day  when  deeds  can  be  seen  in  their  true 
relations,  and  the  lives  of  their  doers  in  proper 
perspective. 

Repetition  of  the  familiar  story  of  the  American 
Revolution  has  been  avoided  as  far  as  possible, 
those  phases  only  being  noted  with  which  Han 
cock  was  directly  associated.  More  attention  has 
been  given  to  his  surroundings,  particularly  in  the 
years  before  he  entered  upon  public  life,  in  order 
to  show  what  share  his  environment  may  have  had 
in  shaping  his  future  career. 

Grateful  acknowledgments  are  due  to  the  libra 
rians  of  the  Public  Library,  the  John  Hay  Library, 
and  the  Historical  Society  in  Providence  for  special 
privileges ;  for  the  same  in  the  Public  Library  of 
Boston,  in  the  New  England  Historic  and  Genea 
logical  Society's  Library ;  among  the  manuscript 
Archives  of  Harvard  University,  the  Hancock 
manuscripts  in  the  Archives  of  Massachusetts  at 
the  State  House,  and  the  valuable  collection  of 
letters  in  the  possession  of  William  P.  Greenough, 
Esq.,  of  Boston.  To  his  classmate,  S.  Arthur 
Bent,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  the  author  is  indebted  for 
many  helpful  courtesies,  and  to  several  authors, 
correspondents,  and  friends  for  various  favors. 

PROVIDENCE,  April,  1912. 


JOHN   HANCOCK 

CHAPTER  I 

AN  INSURGENT  TOWN 

OLD  Braintree  on  Massachusetts  Bay,  the  birth 
place  of  John  Hancock,  always  had  distinctions 
of  its  own  in  the  direction  of  independence.  Situ 
ated  on  the  trail  from  Plymouth  towards  Boston, 
Wessagusset  became  a  retreat  for  two  early  adven 
turers  who  were  as  unlike  the  settlers  at  Patuxet 
and  Shawmut  as  these  were  different  from  the 
Cavaliers  of  England.  The  freedom  which  Pil 
grim  and  Puritan  came  here  to  enjoy  had  its  limi 
tations,  as  all  intruders  discovered ;  but  the  inter 
lopers  who  arrived  between  them,  in  place  and 
time,  stretched  the  principle  of  liberty  to  absurd 
license  and  to  their  own  consequent  discomfiture. 
Yet  their  presence  in  the  neighborhood  and  their 
respective  fortunes  have  a  prophetic  interest  when 
later  advocates  of  a  more  reasonable  freedom  are 
recalled,  who  thus  gave  the  old  town  a  nobler 
eminence.  In  an  age  of  extremists  two  aliens  in 
particular  illustrated  their  own  ideas  of  liberty  in 
ways  that  had  something  of  romance  and  pictur- 
esqueness  in  the  midst  of  a  grim  generation. 


John   Hancock 

Thomas  Morton  of  Clifford's  Inn,  Gent.,  as  he 
styled  himself,  was  the  first  of  these  adventurers 
to  settle  in  Wessagusset,  where  he  became  known 
as  Morton  of  Merry  Mount.  The  story  of  his 
doings  there  cannot  be  told  so  often  as  to  lose  its 
raciness  amidst  the  dreary  chronicles  of  the  Bay. 
He  brought  with  him  two  qualifications  which  his 
neighbors  did  not  require  of  incomers.  Such  legal 
attainments  as  he  possessed  were  not  desired  in  a 
dispute  that  was  brewing  about  land  ownership ; 
and  the  religious  inclination  he  manifested  was  not 
agreeable,  since  it  was  according  to  the  rites  of  that 
Established  Church  which  the  early  settlers  had 
abandoned.  This  might  have  been  endured  if  he 
had  kept  good  order  on  "  Mount  Dagon"  and  in 
adjacent  territory.  Instead,  he  surrounded  him 
self  with  a  gang  of  bond-servants  left  behind  by 
Captain  Wollaston  when  he  took  the  rest  of  the  lot 
to  Virginia  to  serve  out  their  indentures  —  a 
vagabond  crew  not  unlike  the  shipload  of  emigrant 
adventurers  which  came  to  the  Old  Dominion  with 
John  Smith  a  dozen  years  before.  With  this 
motley  crowd  Morton,  kingsman  and  courtier,  set 
up  a  miniature  commonwealth  at  Mount  Wollaston 
in  the  autumn  of  1626,  not  anticipating  the  Crom- 
wellian  pattern,  except  that  he  was  to  be  a  Lord 
Protector.  Aside  from  this,  there  was  not  much 
provision  for  anything  beyond  an  Arcadian  state 
of  jollity.  It  was  worse  than  this  when  he  invited 
Indians  and  their  squaws  into  his  roistering  camp, 


An  Insurgent  Town  3 

and  at  length  began  to  trade  guns  and  ammunition 
with  them  for  food  and  furs.1  Then  it  was  time  for 
Endicott  and  Standish  to  hew  down  the  antler- 
crowned  May-pole,  burn  the  common  house,  and 
leave  Morton  on  a  secluded  island  to  the  hospitality 
of  savages,  which  he  preferred  to  theirs ;  and  finally 
to  send  him  back  to  England  as  a  warning  to  all  who 
might  mistake  this  land  of  modified  liberty  for  a 
resort  of  license.  Morton  had  his  revenge  in 
writing  a  spicy  account  of  his  sojourn  in  the  wilder 
ness  under  the  title  of  "The  New  English  Canaan," 
in  which  he  extolled  the  country  more  than  its 
colonists.  His  description  of  its  pleasant  hillocks, 
meandering  streams,  and  abundance  of  game  might 
have  induced  immigration  if  his  portrayal  of  the 
new  inhabitants  of  the  land  had  not  been  more 
repelling  than  his  account  of  the  aborigines.  Yet 
it  has  appealed  sufficiently  to  sundry  descendants 
of  the  early  fathers  to  become  the  basis  of  stories  by 
Hawthorne  and  Motley,  who  have  made  the  Merry 
Mount  camp  the  one  joyous  feature  in  the  first 
decade  of  colonial  life  in  Massachusetts  Bay.2 

1  Young's  "Chronicles  of  Massachusets,"  p.  156;  Bradford's 
"History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,"  p.  284. 

2 The  "New  English  Canaan"  is  to  Bradford's  "History" 
and  Winslow's  "Journal"  what  the  life  at  Merry  Mount  was  to 
that  at  Plymouth.  Written  before  1635,  it  was  printed  at  Amster 
dam  in  1637.  Force  reprinted  it  in  the  second  volume  of  his 
"American  Tracts,"  Washington,  1838.  A  revised,  corrected, 
and  annotated  edition  was  edited  by  Charles  Francis  Adams,  Jr., 
and  published  by  the  Prince  Society,  in  Boston  in  1883.  It  is 
already  a  rare  book,  only  250  copies  having  been  printed. 


4  John  Hancock 

One  reason,  perhaps  the  chief  one,  for  Morton's 
presence  here  has  sometimes  been  overlooked.  If 
it  is  true  that  he  was  one  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges' 
son  John's  emissaries  or  agents,  the  misrule  and  riot 
of  his  stay  were  not  so  much  the  object  of  his 
adventure  as  incidents  of  a  residence  which  other 
wise  might  have  been  as  prosy  as  in  the  other 
settlements.  The  Gorges'  claim  to  a  tract  of  New 
England  some  three  hundred  miles  square,  lying 
north  of  the  Charles  River,  was  disputed  after 
the  Massachusetts  Company  was  granted  by  the 
crown  the  whole  territory  as  far  as  the  Merrimac, 
including  the  Gorges  Concession.  This,  it  was 
contended,  had  been  secured  to  the  Gorges  by  the 
settlement  of  Blackstone,  Jeffreys,  and  others; 
whereupon  Endicott  made  haste  to  send  forty  or 
fifty  squatters  there.  Then  it  became  desirable  to 
have  the  Gorges'  interest  looked  after  by  some 
one  on  the  ground  or  near  by,  and  Morton  may  have 
been  sent  for  this  purpose.1 

There  was  another  and  later  instance  of  inde- 

"The  cumbrous  sarcasm  and  the  pedantic  scurrility  of  the 
New  English  Canaan."  —  Doyle's  "English  Colonies  in  America," 
n,  274. 

1  The  Gorges  expedition  made  the  first  permanent  settlement 
on  the  shores  of  Boston  Harbor,  and  from  the  post  at  Wessa- 
gusset  came  the  men  who  first  settled  within  the  present  limits 
of  Boston.  Lodge's  "Boston"  in  "Historic  Towns,"  p.  6.  For 
the  extent  of  the  Gorges'  enterprises  on  the  coast,  see  "Maine 
Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,"  i,  56.  Also  Osgood's  "American  Colonies 
in  the  XVII  Century,"  m,  chapter  3.  The  text  of  the  Grant 
may  be  found  in  MacDonald's  "Select  Charters,"  p.  249. 


An  Insurgent  Town  5 

pendent  life,  less  noisy  and  obtrusive,  which, 
however,  did  not  escape  the  attention  of  the 
ruling  spirits  at  Shawmut  and  Naumkeag.  Not 
far  from  Mount  Wollaston,  to  which  Morton  had 
found  his  way  back  at  this  date,  appeared  about 
the  first  of  May,  1630,  Sir  Christopher  Gardiner, 
Knight,  pretending  that  he  was  weary  of  wandering 
in  the  Old  World  and  that  he  was  seeking  a  retreat 
in  the  wilderness.  His  adventures  suggest  those  of 
the  martial  John  Smith,  that  soldier  of  fortune  in 
strange  lands.  He  had  picked  up  a  university 
degree  somewhere,  and  had  exchanged  what 
Protestantism  he  possessed  for  the  Roman  faith. 
Moreover  he  brought  with  him,  besides  a  servant  or 
two,  one  Mary  Grove,  whom  he  called  his  cousin, 
about  whose  degree  of  consanguinity  the  neighbor 
ing  elders  were  in  doubt,  but  concerning  whose  re 
lations  with  Sir  Christopher  they  were  more  positive 
in  their  opinions.  His  case  was  not  so  easy  to 
manage  as  Morton's  had  been.  The  colonists' 
English  reverence  for  titled  persons  and  the  ab 
sence  of  positive  proof  to  confirm  their  strong  sus 
picions  held  direct  interference  in  check  for  a  while. 
As  he  did  not  give  magistrates  the  cause  for  com 
plaint  that  Morton  did  in  consorting  with  savages, 
the  most  they  undertook  at  first  was  to  make 
inquiry  about  two  women  in  England  who  were 
each  disputing  the  right  of  the  other  to  call  Sir 
Christopher  husband.  This  was  accordingly  en 
tered  upon  the  records:  "It  is  ordered  that  Sir 


6  John  Hancock 

Christopher  Gardiner  and  Mr.  Wright  shall  be 
sent  as  prisoners  into  England  by  the  ship  Lyon, 
now  returning  thither."1  When  they  came  for  the 
knight  he  took  to  the  woods,  leaving  Mary  Grove 
to  be  carried  to  Boston,  where  she  was  ordered  to 
be  sent  to  the  two  wives  in  England  "  to  search 
her  further."  Meantime,  while  she  was  detained  in 
Boston,  Sir  Christopher  being  in  hiding,  her  doubt 
ful  relation  toward  him  was  disposed  of  by  her 
marriage  to  one  Thomas  Purchase,  who  came  out  of 
the  Maine  woods  to  buy  axes,  ammunition,  and 
incidentally  to  find  a  wife.  Gardiner  may  have 
heard  of  her  good  fortune,  since  he  appeared  in 
time  to  accompany  the  couple  to  the  Androscoggin 
country,  whence,  after  a  year's  stay  in  their  home, 
he  returned  to  England  to  assist  in  urging  the 
Gorges'  claim  to  the  New  England  tract,  which  was 
finally  disallowed.  He  then  disappeared  from  view 
and  was  heard  of  no  more. 

These  two  romantic  episodes  in  the  early  history 
of  Braintree  were  not,  to  be  sure,  formal  declara 
tions  of  independence  of  the  ruling  order,  but  they 
were  diametrically  opposed  to  its  temporal  inter 
ests,  its  social  regime,  and  its  spiritual  tone.  The 
first  were  contested  in  the  courts  of  the  realm; 
the  second  was  flouted  by  scandalous  and  dis 
orderly  living;  the  third  was  antagonized  by  the 

1  "With  such  trash,  God  be  your  direction,"  wrote  John 
Clotworthy  to  John  Winthrop.  5  "Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.," 
VI,  209. 


An  Insurgent  Town  7 

two  forms  of  religion  which  the  colonists  came  here 
to  escape.  All  together,  the  contrast  between 
the  two  renegades  with  their  households  at  Wessa- 
gusset  and  the  staid  families  at  Plymouth,  Salem, 
and  Boston  was  vivid  enough  to  give  early  notoriety 
to  the  town  which  afterward  became  famous  as 
the  birthplace  of  national  independence,  in  so  far 
as  it  was  the  native  town  of  two  of  the  most  active 
early  advocates  and  promoters  of  separation  from 
the  mother  country.1  It  might  be  imagined  that 
there  was  something  in  the  very  air  of  the  place  to 
foster  notions  of  protest  against  unwelcome  re 
straint,  by  whomsoever  maintained,  since  control 
of  diverse  nature  had  been  contested  there  by  men 
of  different  minds.  At  all  events  it  became  as 
famous  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century 
as  in  the  first  part  of  the  seventeenth  by  reason 
of  two  men  who  were  born  there,  whose  application 
of  the  principle  of  liberty  differed  radically  from  the 
lawlessness  of  Morton  and  Gardiner. 

There  was  a  third  departure  from  the  pur 
pose  of  the  Bay  settlers  which,  while  it  did  not 
violate  their  sense  of  morality  and  of  what  was 
safe,  had  nevertheless  a  divergence  from  their 
own  religious  polity,  and  was  almost  as  offen 
sive  as  the  waywardness  of  Morton  and  Gardi 
ner.  As  early  as  1689  a  little  group  of  Church 
of  England  people  lived  in  Brain  tree,  and  in 

1  In  "Where  American  Independence  Began,"  D.  M.  Wilson 
makes  the  claim  of  this  title  for  the  town. 


8  J°hn  Hancock 

one  house  at  least  prayers  from  the  service 
book  were  daily  read;  probably  by  that  Lieu 
tenant  Veazy  who  contributed  one  pound  sterling 
toward  building  King's  Chapel  in  Boston,  where 
doubtless  he  and  his  friends  occasionally  wor 
shipped,  as  it  was  only  ten  miles  distant.1  Eleven 
years  later,  the  London  Society  for  the  Propaga 
tion  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts  was  formed, 
and  soon  after,  an  "  annual  encouragement  of  fifty 
pounds  and  a  gratuity  of  twenty-five  pounds  for 
present  occasion"  was  granted  to  "Mr.  William 
Barclay,  the  minister  of  the  Church  of  England  at 
Braintree  in  New  England,"  with  a  collection  of 
twenty  books  to  form  the  nucleus  of  a  church 
library.  On  account  of  the  relaxation  of  Puritan 
discipline,  and  the  support  given  to  Episcopacy  by 
royal  governors,  it  was  impossible  to  make  such 
short  work  with  this  alien  element  as  would  have 
suppressed  it  in  previous  years;  but  it  was  re 
garded  with  scarcely  more  favor  than  a  similar 
intent  in  earlier  days  when  a  supervising  clergy 
man  was  sent  to  Plymouth,  who  discreetly  held 
his  peace,  or  when  Morton  himself  upheld  the 
rites  of  the  Established  Church  two  generations 
before.  Yet  toleration  was  not  in  vogue,  and  the 
earliest  Episcopal  church  in  New  England  outside 

1  Ghostly  reminiscences  of  King's  Chapel  from  1686,  and  in 
the  Revolutionary  period  may  be  found  in  chapters  seventy- 
seven  and  seventy-eight  of  "Dealings  with  the  Dead,  by  a 
Sexton  of  the  Old  School,"  Boston,  1856. 


An  Insurgent  Town  9 

of  Boston  and  Newport  was  not  to  be  countenanced 
by  the  standing  order.  Neither  was  it  to  be  ignored, 
particularly  when  tithes  were  to  be  collected ;  from 
the  payment  of  which  Church  of  England  folk 
were  by  no  means  exempted.  Down  to  1 704  Colonel 
Edmund  Quincy  had  hopes  of  suppressing  church 
men  by  a  town  vote,  toward  which  he  had  sixteen 
names  pledged  at  one  time.  After  a  ten-years' 
struggle  the  resident  minister  could  say :  — 

"The  whole  province  has  been  very  much  disturbed 
on  account  of  my  coming  to  this  place,  in  1713,  and  accord 
ingly  have  not  failed  to  affront  and  abuse  me  — '  atheist ' 
and  'papist'  is  the  best  language  I  can  get  from  them. 
The  people  are  independents,  and  have  a  perfect  odium 
to  those  of  our  communion.  These  few  are  taxed  and 
rated  most  extravagantly  to  support  the  dissenting  clergy." 1 

On  the  other  hand,  it  appears  that  the  Vener 
able  Society  had  not  been  fortunate  in  the  choice 
of  their  second  missionary  to  Braintree.  And  the 
church  warden  had  been  fined  for  "  plowing  on 
the  day  of  Thanksgiving,"  while  the  Puritan  per 
suasion  "cohorted  their  families  from  Christmas- 
keeping  and  charged  them  to  forbear."  Evidently 
the  exceptional  placing  of  an  Episcopal  church  in  a 
separatist  settlement  was  an  episode  of  sufficient 

1  The  amount  to  be  raised  is  indicated  by  the  following :  "  2th 
Jan.  1670,  disposed  i$£  to  Mr.  Peter  Bulkley  of  Concord:  20  s. 
a  man  for  all  the  ministers  that  had  bine  helpfull  to  the  chh." 
And  on  the  13  May,  1672,  —  "To  try  Mr.  Moses  ffiskc  for  a  house 
&  yearly  salary  of  60  pounds  &  five  acres  of  marsh  grass  from  year 
to  year."  —  "Records  of  the  Town  of  Braintree,"  p.  n. 


io  John  Hancock 

importance  to  be  classed  with  the  earlier  provoca 
tions  which  had  stirred  the  village.  It  was  another 
instance  of  independence  of  the  primitive  order 
which  was  not  to  be  overlooked,  and  to  be  repressed 
if  not  suppressed,  by  the  town-meeting  if  possible, 
or  by  such  methods  of  ostracism  as  villagers  can 
devise  and  make  effective. 

But  the  spirit  of  independence  came  with  the 
wind  from  off  the  ocean,  inhaled  by  every  inhabitant ; 
and  though  Judge  Sewall  in  his  time  was  glad  to 
note  that  "  trade  went  on  as  usual  in  Boston  on 
Christmas  Day,  1727,"  he  also  observed  that 
"Mr.  Miller  kept  the  day  in  his  new  (Episcopal) 
Church  at  Brain  tree,  and  the  people  flock  thither" ; 
as  they  do  to-day  in  greater  numbers,  since  the 
prejudice  and  opposition  have  vanished  after  two 
centuries  of  varying  persistence  and  strength.1 

A  town  which  was  remarked  beyond  its  neighbors 
for  radical  doings  in  its  pristine  days  might  naturally 
be  expected  to  distinguish  itself  further  in  the  same 
direction  in  the  progress  of  time  and  events.  At 
least  it  would  be  regarded  as  a  fitting  birthplace 
of  leaders  in  new  movements  and  departures. 
The  traditions  of  the  place  were  those  of  protest 
if  not  of  successful  revolt ;  the  environment  of  the 
inhabitants  was  the  spirit  of  freedom.  Reverence 
for  custom  and  public  sentiment  had  been  lacking 

1  "We  have  a  few  rascally  Jacobites  and  Roman  Catholics  in 
this  town,  but  they  do  not  dare  show  themselves." — John 
Adams,  in  "Works,"  ix.  335. 


An  Insurgent  Town  1 1 

in  notorious  instances,  and  an  established  order  had 
not  always  been  accepted  by  universal  consent.  If 
the  atmosphere  of  a  neighborhood,  its  known 
history,  and  common  talk  are  recognized  molders 
of  disposition  and  temper,  such  men  as  Adams, 
Hancock,  and  Quincy  seem  to  be  the  inevitable 
product  of  Old  Braintree,  and  the  political  changes 
they  were  forward  in  bringing  about  were  the  legiti 
mate  result  of  their  environment.1 

1  The  North  Precinct  of  Braintree  was  named  Quincy  in  1792 
for  the  John  Quincy  of  Mount  Wollaston,  through  the  influence 
of  Christopher  Cranch.  Otherwise,  according  to  Charles  Francis 
Adams,  in  his  "History  of  Quincy,"  p.  272,  the  town  might  have 
been  named  for  Hancock,  as  he  was  a  native  of  the  North  Pre 
cinct,  and  more  widely  known,  "  and  popular  to  a  degree  which  no 
other  public  man  has  since  equaled."  A  county  afterward  was 
to  bear  his  name.  See  also  D.  M.  Wilson's  "  Col.  John  Quincy, 
Master  of  Mount  Wollaston,"  p.  25. 


CHAPTER  II 

HOME  AND   SCHOOL 

THE  Reverend  John  Hancock,  minister  of  the 
First  Church  in  the  North  Precinct  of  Braintree, 
made  the  following  entry  in  the  parish  register 
of  births:  "John,  son  of  John  Adams,  October 
26,  1735."  About  fifteen  months  later  he  made 
this  one:  "John  Hancock,  my  son,  January  16, 

1737." 

An  eminent  jurist  and  writer  on  New  England 
origins  has  remarked  that  if  one  is  looking  for  the 
aristocracy  of  the  Puritan  period,  he  must  inquire 
for  the  ministers  and  deacons :  an  observation  whose 
truth  colonial  history  abundantly  confirms.  It 
has  also  been  shown,  contrary  to  the  common  sup 
position,  that  there  are  fewer  scapegraces  among 
the  families  of  these  worthies  than  elsewhere: 
another  genealogical  conclusion  which  the  two 
boys  who  began  life  so  near  together  exemplified 
in  their  respective  careers. 

Of  the  Hancock  genealogy  it  may  be  said  that  a 
Nathaniel  Hancock  was  in  Cambridge  as  early  as 
1634.  He  died  in  1652.  An  eldest  child  may  have 
been  born  before  he  came  to  this  country.  A  son, 


Home  and  School  13 

Nathaniel,  was  born  in  1638 ;  his  son  John,"  Bishop  " 
John,  pastor  of  the  Lexington  Church,  was  born 
in  1671 ;  his  son  John,  pastor  of  the  Braintree 
Church,  was  born  in  1702  ;  and  his  son,  John 
Hancock  the  patriot,  was  born  on  the  i6th  of 
January,  1737.  A  daughter,  Mary,  was  born  on 
the  8th  of  April,  1735 ;  a  son,  Ebenezer,  on  the  5th 
of  November,  1744. 

Two  children  were  born  to  John  Hancock  the  3d: 
Lydia  Henchman,  born  in  January,  1777,  who  died 
in  the  following  summer,  and  John  George  Wash 
ington,  born  May  21,  1778,  who  died  from  an 
accident  in  1787  while  skating. 

The  Hancock  coat  of  arms  consists  of  an  open 
hand,  raised  as  if  in  protest,  above  which  in  the 
chief  are  three  fighting-cocks.  Perhaps  it  was 
with  this  blazonry  in  mind  that  John's  father-in- 
law  used  to  write  of  him  as  Mr.  Handcock.  Such 
devices  of  "  canting  arms,"  allusive  to  one's  name 
or  occupation,  sometimes  have  been  taken  as 
indicating  recent  fabrication,  not  unknown  in  a  new 
country;  but  trustworthy  authorities  in  heraldry 
state  that  such  descriptive  display  is  proof  of  an 
tiquity  and  is  of  highly  honorable  character.  The 
crest  is  a  chanticleer  in  bellicose  attitude,  made 
more  terrible  by  the  metamorphosis  of  postern 
plumes  into  the  tail  of  a  dragon.  Appended  to 
the  whole  runs  the  motto,  —  not  without  fitness  in 
the  life  of  a  sumptuous  liver,  —  Nul  Plaisir  Sans 
Peine. 


14  J°hn  Hancock 

It  is  not  difficult  to  imagine  what  was  the  boyish 
life  of  the  two  playfellows.  Doubtless  they  were 
more  carefully  watched  and  commented  upon  than 
their  companions,  since  they  belonged  to  house 
holds  that  were  expected  to  be  patterns  to  the 
rest  of  the  community;  and  for  this  reason  it  is 
likely  that  they  suffered  some  superfluous  restraint 
at  home  which  they  might  otherwise  have  escaped. 
The  noblesse  oblige  of  their  day  and  station  was 
largely  negative.  Thou  shalt  not  do  all  that  other 
boys  do,  for  thou  art  the  minister's  son,  or  the 
deacon's;  which  was  restrictive  enough  to  cramp 
the  spirit  of  freedom  in  any  natural  boy,  unless  it 
should  be  too  strong  to  be  bound  by  convention.  If 
such  was  the  tendency  of  the  Hancock  lad's  training 
it  did  not  last  many  years,  for  when  he  was  seven 
his  father  died,  leaving  a  widow  and  three  children 
no  larger  inheritance  than  is  usual  with  clergymen 
whose  parishioners  have  not  exposed  them  to  the 
deceitfulness  of  riches.  Had  he  lived  longer 
he  would  doubtless  have  fitted  the  boy  for  college, 
as  ministers  of  that  time  could,  and  would  have 
expected  the  son  to  follow  in  his  steps,  as  he  himself 
had  in  his  father's,  the  noted  "  Bishop  Hancock," 
as  he  was  called  for  his  masterful  efficiency  as  pastor 
of  the  Lexington  church  and  as  a  presiding  officer. 
Even  in  his  father's  lifetime  the  lad  fell  into  other 
hands  when,  in  company  with  John  Adams,  he  was 
taught  by  Joseph  Marsh,  the  son  of  the  elder 
John  Hancock's  predecessor  in  the  Braintree  pas- 


Home  and  School  1 5 

torate.  Upon  his  father's  death,  an  important 
change  awaited  the  son. 

An  uncle,  Thomas  Hancock,  was  accounted  the 
richest  merchant  in  Boston  and  the  most  enter 
prising  in  New  England  at  a  time  when  colonial 
commerce  made  many  opulent,  notwithstanding 
demands  from  the  home  government  across  the  sea. 
Besides,  it  did  not  then  require  millions  to  make 
one  rich.  On  the  other  hand,  personal  ability 
was  not  supplemented  by  combinations  of  capital 
and  venal  legislatures.  Success  was  won  by 
single-handed  effort  in  an  open  field  for  all 
comers,  in  which  there  was  nothing  worse  than 
evasion  of  oppressive  revenue  laws  by  everybody 
who  dared  to  defy  them.  Furthermore,  Thomas 
Hancock  had  married  a  daughter  of  Hench 
man,  a  prosperous  bookseller  and  stationer  of 
Boston,  and  her  inheritance  eventually  augmented 
the  fortune  of  the  childless  aristocrat,  making  the 
prospect  golden  for  an  adopted  heir.  Doubtless  the 
uncle  had  his  reasons  for  choosing  only  one  out  of 
the  three  children  at  the  Braintree  parsonage  as  the 
object  of  special  favor,  although  he  did  not  neglect 
the  other  nephew  and  the  niece.  The  widow 
was  provided  with  a  husband  and  home  not  long 
after  her  bereavement,  as  was  apt  to  be  the  case 
with  clergymen's  " relicts"  in  colonial  days. 

The  favored  son  John  was  transferred  from  a 
country  village  to  the  chief  town  of  the  province 
and  the  busiest  seaport  along  the  coast,  where 


1 6  J°nn  Hancock 

the  descendants  of  gentry  who  came  over  in  the 
decade  before  Cromwell's  rise  had  lived  and  thrived 
for  a  hundred  years,  now  numbering  about  17,000 
inhabitants,  including  alien  mixtures.  The  swift 
and  slow  ships  that  carried  oil  and  timber,  fish 
and  furs  to  London  brought  back  silks  and  velvets, 
wines  and  spices,  costumes  and  equipages,  with 
the  fashions  of  court  and  hall  to  be  followed  by 
citizens  whose  simplicity  was  by  no  means  repub 
lican,  as  their  politics  also  were  not  at  this  time 
adverse  to  the  crown.  Moreover  the  boy  was 
ushered  into  the  best  house  in  Boston.  Great 
prosperity  had  followed  Thomas  Hancock  after 
he  left  his  future  father-in-law,  married  the  daughter 
Lydia,  and  set  up  for  himself  as  bookbinder  and 
bookseller  at  the  Stationers'  Arms  on  Ann  Street 
in  1729.  Within  seven  years  he  began  to  make 
contracts  for  a  mansion  to  be  built  on  the  sunny  side 
of  Beacon  Hill,  a  large  part  of  which  he  had  ac 
quired  for  nothing.1  Granite  blocks,  squared  and 
hammered,  came  from  Braintree,  and  brownstone 
trimmings  from  Hartford,  at  a  cost  of  300  pounds 
sterling  "in  goods."  The  best  crown  glass,  480 
squares,  12  by  18  and  8  by  12,  were  ordered  from 
London,  with  wall  papers  on  which  there  should 
be  "  peacocks,  macoys,  squirrel,  monkeys,  fruit 

1  "The  result  is  that  Thomas  Hancock  thus  obtained  all  Beacon 
Hill  without  paying  one  cent  for  it,  and  he,  and  those  coming 
after  him  retained  possession  by  pasturing  cows  there."  —  Justin 
Winsor,  "Memorial  History  of  Boston,"  u,  520.  On  the  value 
of  the  land  then  and  now  see  Ib.,  Introd.,  xlvi. 


Home  and  School  17 

and  flowers,"  which  the  merchant  thinks  "are 
handsomer  and  better  than  paintings  done  in  oyle." 
Also,  for  the  kitchen,  "a  Jack  of  three  Guineas 
price,  with  a  wheel-fly  and  Spitt- Chain  to  it," 
suggestive  of  generous  living,  as  also  are  subse 
quent  orders  for  Madeira  wines  "  without  regard 
to  price  provided  the  quality  answers  to  it" ;  to  be 
accompanied  by  "6  Quart  Decanters  and  6  pint 
do.,  2  doz.  handsome,  new  fash'd  wine  glasses, 
6  pr.  Beakers,  2  pr.  pint  Cans,  and  1-2  do.,  6  Beer 
glasses,  12  water  glasses,  and  2  doz.  Jelly  glasses." 
Well  he  might  write  a  friend,  "We  live  Pretty 
comfortable  here  on  Beacon  Hill,"  as  he  continued 
to  for  twenty-five  years. 

The  minister's  son  must  have  had  awesome 
thoughts  as  he  climbed  the  grand  steps  and  entered 
the  panelled  hall  with  its  broad  staircase  adorned 
with  carved  and  twisted  balusters  and  a  "Chiming 
Clock"  surmounted  with  carved  figures  "Gilt  with 
burnished  Gold,"  the  case  "to  be  10  foot  long,  the 
price  not  to  exceed  50  Guineas,"  —  so  the  order  for 
it  ran.  Then  there  were  portraits  of  dignitaries 
on  the  walls  of  the  great  drawing-room  where  still 
more  notable  men  were  soon  to  assemble,  incident 
ally  for  a  boy's  education  in  things  not  taught  at 
school. 

To  be  transplanted  from  the  country  parsonage 
to  a  lordly  mansion  on  Beacon  Hill  was  an  event 
whose  importance  a  lad  of  seven  years  could  not 
be  expected  to  appreciate  immediately,  as  he  could 


1 8  John  Hancock 

not  foresee  all  its  consequences.  The  loss  of  his 
childhood's  home  would  not  be  made  up  to  him  at 
once  by  the  grandeur  of  his  uncle's  house,  but 
it  was  an  exchange  which  had  the  fewest  possible 
drawbacks.  An  envied  position  among  his  play 
mates  was  established  at  once,  with  predictions 
of  an  assured  fortune  in  the  future.  The  flattery 
which  boys  have  their  own  way  of  conveying  would 
not  tend  to  diminish  his  native  vanity.  He  would 
have  exhibited  an  alarming  precocity  in  goodness  if 
he  had  not  developed  some  boyish  sense  of  New 
England  caste  even  while  living  in  his  father's 
house,  which  would  not  be  lessened  in  the  stately 
domicile  of  his  uncle,  whose  tastes  and  sympathies 
were  of  a  kind  to  direct  the  nephew  into  the  upper 
walks  of  life.  For  Thomas  Hancock  had  a  keen 
appreciation  of  social  values  and  a  high  estimate  of 
education  and  literature  according  to  the  somewhat 
narrow  standards  of  his  time,  as  shown  by  his 
gift  of  books  to  the  value  of  five  hundred  pounds 
sterling  to  Harvard  College,  and  by  founding  a  pro 
fessorship  of  Oriental  Languages  and  of  Hebrew  in 
a  day  when  this  language  was  one  of  the  useful  and 
elegant  accomplishments  of  the  ministry,  as  it  had 
been  of  queens  in  Shakespeare's  day. 

Whether  there  was  anything  more  attractive 
to  a  boy  than  the  Hebraic  literature,  which  like 
Israelitish  names  had  prevailed  in  the  Puritan 
period,  cannot  with  safety  be  asserted  of  volumes 
in  the  library  in  the  Hancock  house ;  but  if  there 


Home  and  School  19 

was  a  collection  large  or  small  of  current  and  classic 
British  authors  in  any  Boston  home,  it  should 
have  been  in  that  of  the  bookseller  Henchman's 
son-in-law,  himself  an  importer  of  books.  Doubt 
less  it  had  theological  tomes  enough  for  a  layman's 
drowsy  perusal  after  the  Sunday  dinner,  but  if 
English  classics  in  bookstores  followed  Berkeley's 
gift  of  them  to  Yale  College  in  1733,  Milton, 
Addison,  Steele,  Cowley,  and  Waller  would  come 
to  Boston  also,  with  Swift,  Cervantes,  and  even 
Butler  and  his  "Hudibras."  "The  Lamentations 
of  Mary  Hooper"  and  "Remarkable  Providences," 
"The  Folly  of  Sinning"  and  the  "Practice  of 
Repentance"  might  be  handed  down  from  Michael 
Perry's  ancient  stock,  along  with  the  scandalous 
item  of  "nine  packs  of  playing  cards,"  showing 
incidentally  that  Boston  people  were  not  all  so 
straight-laced  that  they  might  not  with  equal 
propriety  have  read,  say,  Richardson's  "Pamela," 
even  if  it  were  supposed  to  be  the  novel  which  drove 
Jonathan  Edwards  from  Northampton  to  the 
Stockbridge  Indians.  One  cannot  imagine  that 
Boston  escaped  the  literary  awakening  which 
followed  Ben  Franklin's  raising  of  the  blockade 
of  current  classics  in  1730  by  baiting  the  country 
with  scraps  in  his  almanac  from  world  litera 
tures,  and  creating  an  appetite  for  something 
besides  "The  Calling  of  the  Jews,"  "Ornaments 
of  Sidn,"  "  Sermons  of  Glory,"  and  the  rest  of  that 
"New  England  Library"  which  Judge  Samuel 


2O  John  Hancock 

Sewall's  son  had  gathered  in  the  Steeple  Chamber 
of  the  Old  South  Church,  whose  most  entertaining 
volumes  were  "  Whale  Fishing  in  Greenland/' 
"  Purchas  His  Pilgrimage,"  and  Ward's  "  Simple 
Cobler  of  Agawam." 

By  the  year  that  young  John  Hancock  came  to 
live  with  his  uncle  and  aunt  it  was  her  fault  if  she 
did  not  bring  lighter  books  from  her  father's  shop 
or  her  husband's  for  her  bright  nephew  to  read, 
and  his  fault  if  he  did  not  read  them  in  the  winter 
evenings  of  1745  and  after.  The  "Tatler," 
"Spectator,"  and  "Guardian"  had  been  printed 
long  enough  to  get  between  board  covers.  Richard 
son  was  turning  out  his  stories,  to  be  followed  by 
Fielding,  Smollet,  and  Sterne.  If  fiction  was 
under  a  ban  in  Boston,  Defoe's  "Robinson  Crusoe" 
should  not  have  been  debarred,  as  Bunyan's 
"Pilgrim's  Progress"  was  not,  with  its  strong 
human  interest  and  religious  teaching.  If  the  lad 
did  not  come  in  contact  with  some  of  the  best  books 
that  have  been  written  in  English,  it  was  because 
they  were  not  in  the  Boston  market  nor  brought  out 
of  London  with  other  luxuries  for  people  who  could 
well  afford  them.  Therefore,  unless  he  showed  a 
greater  repugnance  to  reading  than  his  later  life  dis 
closed,  it  may  fairly  be  inferred  that  the  home 
education  in  his  new  environment  was  as  good  as 
the  literary  taste  of  the  period  permitted. 

As  a  matter  of  course  he  was  sent  to  the  Boston 
Public  Latin  School,  the  oldest  educational  insti- 


Home  and  School  21 

tution  in  the  country,  known  first  as  the  South 
Grammar  School,  standing  behind  King's  Chapel 
for  a  hundred  and  thirty-three  years.  The  Puritan 
fathers  soon  after  their  settlement  provided,  in 
1635,  a  school  for  teaching  the  higher  branches, 
with  special  reference  to  advanced  studies  in  the 
college  to  be  founded  at  Newtown  (Cambridge)  a 
little  later.  John  Cotton,  minister  of  the  First 
Church,  had  in  mind  the  High  School  of  his  Lin 
colnshire  Boston,  founded  by  Philip  and  Mary 
in  1554,  and  with  his  love  for  both  the  school 
and  college  here  he  divided  his  estate  between 
them.  So  John  Winthrop  and  his  companions 
determined  that  "for  the  common  defence  and  for 
the  general  welfare  the  classical  languages  should 
be  taught  at  the  common  charge"  ;  and  the  General 
Court  added,  "that  learning  be  not  buried  in  the 
graves  of  our  fathers." 

Philemon  Pormont  was  the  first  master.  As  a 
London  boy  he  might  have  stolen  into  the  Globe 
or  Blackfriars  theatres,  unknown  to  his  Puritan 
father,  to  see  Shakespeare  in  one  of  his  own  plays. 
Daniel  Maude,  the  second  master,  was  an  old 
graduate  of  Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge,  nearly 
fifty  years  of  age  when  young  John  Milton  took 
his  degree  at  Christ  Church  three  years  before 
Maude  came  to  America.  Even  Ezekiel  Cheever, 
who  gave  the  Latin  school  a  great  name  in  the 
thirty-eight  years  of  his  teaching,  was  only  six 
years  younger  than  the  great  epic  poet,  who  as  Dep- 


22  John  Hancock 

uty  Grecian  might  have  heard  Ezekiel  translate 
Erasmus  in  St.  Paul's  School,  London,  where 
tradition  has  placed  in  his  boyhood  the  famous 
master,  who  died  in  the  harness  at  ninety-four 
and  was  buried  from  his  schoolhouse ;  a  funeral 
oration  being  pronounced  by  his  successor,  and  a 
sermon  delivered  later  by  Cotton  Mather,  the 
Magnalian  and  the  Magnificent. 

The  next  master  to  achieve  distinction  was 
John  Lovell,  who  was  in  full  sway  when  the  Han 
cock  boy  was  sent  to  mingle  with  a  hundred  others 
who  forgathered  at  seven  o'clock  every  morning  in 
the  old  building  on  School  Street.  For  ten  years 
Lovell  had  been  the  embodiment  of  a  despotism 
found  in  the  schoolhouses  of  New  England,  and  for 
thirty-two  years  more  he  was  to  rule  as  with  a  rod 
of  iron.  His  portrait  in  Harvard  Memorial  Hall, 
drawn  by  Smibert,  his  pupil,  "  while  the  terrific 
impressions  of  the  pedagogue  were  yet  vibrating 
on  his  nerves/'  betokens  a  master  of  Young  Ameri 
cans.  Yet,  loyalist  as  he  was,  with  high  notions 
of  the  divine  right  of  kings  and  schoolmasters,  he 
did  not  entirely  suppress  mutterings  that  were  to 
grow  louder  before  he  laid  down  his  sceptre  on  April 
19,  1775,  when,  with  Earl  Percy's  brigade  drawn 
up  at  the  head  of  the  street  ready  to  start  for 
Lexington,  he  dismissed  the  boys  with  a  final 
command,  "Deponite  libros:  war's  begun  and 
school's  done."  His  son  James,  assistant  at  the 
other  end  of  the  room,  was  on  the  Patriot  side, 


Home  and  School  23 

and  a  daughter  so  fascinated  a  British  officer  of 
ordnance  that  in  love's  absentmindedness  he  sent 
to  Bunker  Hill  twelve-pound  shot  for  the  six- 
pounder  guns  that  were  to  open  the  fight,  and  re 
peated  the  blunder  when  the  disgusted  commander 
sent  orders  to  correct  it.1 

To  return  to  that  morning  when  young  John 
faced  the  tyrant  pedagogue.  His  admission  exam 
ination  had  been  easy  enough,  —  a  few  verses 
read  from  the  King  James  Version  of  the  Bible. 
The  text-books  of  the  first  year  were  more  formi 
dable :  "Cheever's  Accidence,"  on  its  way  to 
the  eighteenth  edition,  "  Nomenclatura  B  re  vis," 
"  Corderius '  Colloquies, "  —  an  early  start  in  Latin 
for  a  boy  of  eight.  The  next  year  came  "  ^Esop's 
Fables,"  "Eutropius,"  and  "Lilly's  Grammar"; 
and  so  on  until  the  fourth  year,  when,  furnished  with 
a  desk,  the  boy  was  expected  to  write  Latin,  read 
Caesar,  then  Cicero,  Virgil,  and  in  the  sixth  year 
the  Greek  of  Xenophon,  Homer,  and  the  New 
Testament.  Linguistic  knowledge  in  that  day, 
like  sap,  went  from  the  roots  upward,  and  language 

1  "Voted,  that  the  sum  of  One  hundred  and  twenty  pounds  be 
allowed  and  paid  unto  Mr.  John  Lovell,  for  his  Salary  as  Master 
of  the  South  Grammar  School  for  the  ensuing  Year."  And,  later 
in  the  way  of  promotion,  "A  further  Sum  of  Forty  pounds  be 
allowed  him,  as  an  encouragement  for  him  to  remain  and  exert 
himself  in  the  Service  of  the  Town  the  ensuing  Year." 

A  committee  of  fifty  of  the  principal  men  of  the  town  visited 
this  school  and  others  on  the  4th  of  July,  1770,  and  reported  that 
they  found  "all  in  very  good  order,"  —  "Boston  Town  Records," 
1770,  pp.  23,  55. 


24  J°hn  Hancock 

was  not  acquired  at  sight ;  but  it  became  a  perma 
nent  possession  which  scholars  carried  with  them 
to  use  throughout  a  lifetime  on  great  occasions. 
From  seven  o'clock,  or  in  winter  eight,  declensions 
and  conjugations,  accent,  quantity,  and  versifi 
cation  prepared  the  way  for  the  humanities  and 
the  study  of  divinity,  which  had  been  the  main  pur 
pose  of  early  education  in  the  Province.  After 
the  long  day  of  classics  came  an  hour  in  penman 
ship,  with  the  making  and  mending  of  quills,  now  a 
lost  art  in  these  days  of  "iron  pens,"  as  Carlyle 
called  them  with  maledictions  on  their  sputter,  and 
of  intermittent  fountains.  One  autograph  which 
became  historic  shows  that  John  Hancock  learned 
to  point,  nib,  and  handle  the  quill.1 

It  would  be  halving  the  story  of  the  Latin  School 
to  drop  it  with  the  Evacuation  of  Boston.  Men  of 
less  distinction  than  Cheever  and  Lovell  followed 
them  until  Benjamin  A.  Gould  restored  much  of 
its  renown  between  1814  and  1828,  after  which 

1  Not  all  his  signatures  are  as  elegant  as  the  one  which  followed 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.  For  instance,  one  in  1770, 
among  those  of  the  Selectmen  of  Boston,  like  most  of  the  quill- 
pen  autographs  of  the  time,  might  have  been  written  by  a  school 
boy  with  a  sharp  stick.  The  facsimile  is  in  Winsor's  "Memorial 
History  of  Boston,"  n,  537.  " Hancock  seems  to  have  had  in  mind 
an  official  proportion  in  the  dimensions  of  his  name  at  the  head  oi 
the  Declaration."  —  Tudor's  "Life  of  Otis,"  p.  265,  note.  One  oi 
his  whims  was  for  iron  filings  instead  of  sand,  which  our  forefatlv 
ers  used  to  dash  upon  the  wet  ink  as  an  absorbent  before  the  day  oi 
paper  blotters,  and  is  even  yet  used  by  some  members  of  thf 
Senate  and  of  the  Supreme  Court, 


Home  and  School  25 

names  still  familiar  appear  among  its  instructors,  — 
Bishop  Wainwright,  Professor  Henry  W.  Torrey, 
Rev.  Edward  E.  Hale,  Dr.  John  P.  Reynolds,  and 
Phillips  Brooks,  who  needs  no  title.  Among  its 
graduates  are  names  of  similar  eminence,  —  Presi 
dents  Leverett,  Langdon,  Everett,  and  Eliot  of  Har 
vard,  Pynchon  of  Trinity;  Professors  Childs,  and 
Cooke ;  Governors,  Judges,  and  Mayors ;  Robert 
C  Winthrop,  Charles  Francis  Adams,  Charles 
Sumner,  Wendell  Phillips,  Emerson,  Motley,  and 
Parkman,  with  others  who  have  been  an  honor  to 
the  School  which  started  them  toward  distinction. 
Four  graduates  wrote  their  names  after  that  of 
the  first,  whose  bold  signature  heads  the  illustrious 
roll  of  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence ; 
and  many  others  are  found  in  the  army  and  civil 
lists  of  the  Revolution,  and  others  still  in  the  annals 
of  Americans  who  were  loyal  to  the  royal  govern 
ment  which  had  persisted  here  for  one  hundred  and 
seventy  years.  And  in  the  years  of  a  later  rebellion 
two  hundred  and  seventy-six  filled  posts  in  the 
military  and  naval  service,  of  whom  fifty  fell. 


CHAPTER  III 

IN  HARVARD   COLLEGE 

IT  was  almost  as  inevitable  that  a  Latin  School 
graduate  in  the  seventeenth  century  should  enter 
Harvard  as  that  the  Charles  River  should  flow  into 
the  Back  Bay.  In  those  days  of  the  unbridged 
river  the  college  was  so  inconveniently  distant  from 
Boston  that  a  town  boy  might  consider  himself 
away  from  home  and  as  far  from  urban  attractions 
as  he  could  wish  to  be,  since  to  go  or  return  he  would 
have  to  take  the  circuitous  path  through  Brookline, 
Roxbury,  and  the  Neck  or  risk  the  uncertainties 
and  delays  of  Charlestown  ferry  with  the  customary 
assortment  of  winds  and  weather  the  year  through.1 
To  be  sure,  there  were  fortifications  against  chills 
to  be  had  at  the  Royal  Exchange  and  other  taverns, 
which  might  or  might  not  lessen  the  discomforts 
of  the  way  back  to  college  after  such  primitive 
entertainments  as  the  town  then  afforded,  of 

1  The  ferry  was  a  source  of  revenue  to  Harvard  from  1640  until 
a  bridge  was  built  to  Charlestown  in  1785,  of  which  Hancock 
was  the  first  on  the  list  of  incorporators.  —  Quincy's  "History  of 
Harvard,"  n,  271.  Two  hundred  pounds  annually  were  to  be 
paid  to  Harvard  College  to  compensate  it  for  the  loss  of  the  ferry. 
—  Mary  Caroline  Crawford's  "Old  Boston  Days  and  Ways," 
p.  289. 


In  Harvard   College  27 

which  the  Thursday  Lecture  was  the  only  one 
sufficiently  recognized  by  the  community  to  cause 
the  closing  of  the  schools  at  ten  o'clock  on  that 
day  of  the  week.  No  great  hilarity,  however,  was 
encouraged,  and  the  half-holiday  was  considerably 
shortened  by  the  length  of  the  semi-political, 
semi-religious  discourse  which  had  been  the  one 
dissipation  of  the  Province  for  a  century  and  a  half, 
with  high  days  of  ordination,  general  muster  of  the 
militia,  and  an  occasional  execution,  accompanied 
by  a  sermon. 

The  queen  of  New  England  festivals  was  Com 
mencement  Day,  a  high  day  in  Cambridge  and  a 
holiday  in  the  neighborhood,  shops  being  closed  in 
Boston  and  business  generally  suspended.  During 
an  entire  week  Cambridge  Common  was  covered 
with  lanes  of  booths,  inviting  visitors  from  town 
and  country  to  behold  exotic  wonders,  to  take 
a  hand  in  sundry  ventures  of  chance,  to  eat  sub 
stantial  viands,  and  to  drink  liquors  of  foreign 
and  domestic  brands  until  the  result  was  far  from 
Puritanic,  or  even  classic  and  academic,  as  these 
terms  are  commonly  understood  by  the  unlearned. 
In  fact,  hilarity  had  reached  such  extremes  the 
year  before  John  Hancock's  entrance  into  college 
that  three  gentlemen  whose  sons  were  to  be  gradu 
ated  offered  the  authorities  a  thousand  pounds, 
old  tenor,  if  a  Commencement  should  beheld  "for 
that  year  in  a  more  private  manner" ;  and  in  con 
sideration  of  "the  low  state  of  the  college  treasury, 


28  John  Hancock 

the  extravagant  expenses  and  disorders  attending 
upon  graduation,"  the  offer  was  accepted  by  the 
Corporation  vote  —  which  the  Board  of  Overseers 
straightway  negatived,  with  an  eye  to  the  popular 
protest  that  would  be  sure  to  follow  so  radical  a 
measure  as  the  sudden  discontinuance  of  the 
general  and  extended  holiday.  With  the  thousand 
pounds  in  view  the  Corporation  changed  its  tactics 
and  voted  that  "on  account  of  the  high  price  of 
provisions  and  the  extraordinary  and  depressing 
drought,  which  we  apprehend  to  be  such  a  judg 
ment  of  God  as  calls  for  fasting  and  mourning  and 
not  for  joy  and  festivity,  the  Commencement  for 
the  present  be  private."  Not  even  so  were  the 
Overseers  to  be  defrauded  of  their  annual  outing, 
and  the  proposed  substitution  of  a  fast  day  got  a 
crushing  defeat.  In  turn  the  Corporation  appealed 
to  parents  of  the  graduating  class  to  retrench  their 
sons'  Commencement  expenses  "so  as  may  best 
correspond  with  the  frowns  of  Divine  Providence, 
and  to  take  effectual  care  to  have  their  sons'  cham 
bers  cleared  of  company,  and  their  entertainments 
finished  on  the  evening  of  said  day  or  at  furthest 
by  next  morning." 

But  matters  did  not  mend  for  six  years,  when  the 
Overseers  themselves  in  their  turn  recommended  to 
the  Corporation  "to  take  effectual  measures  to 
prevent  undergraduates  from  having  entertain 
ments  of  any  kind,  either  in  the  College  or  in  any 
house  in  Cambridge  after  the  Commencement 


In  Harvard  College  29 

Day,"  that  is,  during  the  academic  year  opened 
by  that  day  with  unbecoming  festivity.  Then 
the  Corporation  took  its  revenge  by  paying  no  more 
heed  to  this  recommendation  than  to  advise 
"the  Bachelors  to  endeavor  to  get  away  with  their 
goods  on  Thursday  and  not  to  continue  in  College 
after  Friday,"  finally  shortened  to  "  after  dinner 
on  Thursday."  Thus  the  two  branches  of  govern 
ment  tossed  the  question  back  and  forth  till  at  length 
the  need  of  a  fast  became  so  evident  as  to  secure  a 
vote  that,  "  Whereas  in  the  providence  of  God  there 
hath  been  a  distressing  drought  whereby  the  first 
crop  of  hay  hath  been  greatly  diminished  and  is 
now  past  recovery,  and  a  great  scarcity  as  to  kine 
feeding  at  this  time,  and  a  dark  state  of  Providence 
with  respect  to  the  war  we  are  engaged  in  calling 
for  humiliation  and  fasting;  therefore  it  is  voted 
that  degrees  be  given  to  candidates  without  their 
personal  attendance."  Later,  dancing  was  for 
bidden  during  the  week ;  and  to  the  President  was 
assigned  the  duty  of  expunging  all  exceptional  parts 
from  Commencement  exercises,  and  particularly 
"to  put  an  end  to  the  practice  of  addressing  the 
female  sex." 

It  was  to  such  features  of  college  life  that  the 
Hancock  boy  was  introduced  on  the  Commence 
ment  Day  when  he  rode  over  to  Cambridge  with 
his  uncle  Thomas  and  aunt  Lydia  in  the  family 
coach,  and  was  presented  by  the  uncle,  a  dignitary 
who  was  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  invited  on 


30  John  Hancock 

one  occasion  at  least  to  dine  with  the  college 
authorities  as  a  distinguished  guest.  It  must  be 
admitted  that  Freshman  Hancock  might  have  had 
glimpses  of  "exercises"  on  the  opening  day  such 
as  would  not  contribute  to  a  thirst  for  knowledge 
so  much  as  for  more  material  delights;  yet  if  the 
domestic  beverages  in  the  days  of  a  thriving  West 
India  trade  be  considered,  and  what  quantities 
of  native  and  imported  liquors  were  consumed  at 
tavern  dinners  after  ordinations,  some  allowance 
must  be  made  for  the  celebration  of  the  one 
hundred  and  fifteenth  anniversary  of  the  found 
ing  of  the  College.  Indeed,  the  authorities  re 
laxed  somewhat  after  the  fasting  year,  recom 
mended  a  "repeal  of  the  law  prohibiting  the 
drinking  of  punch,"  and  passed  a  vote  that  "it 
shall  be  no  offence  if  any  scholar  shall,  at  Commence 
ment,  make  and  entertain  guests  at  his  chamber 
with  punch";  and  a  year  later  it  was  voted  by 
both  Boards  that  "it  shall  be  no  offence  if  the 
scholars,  in  a  sober  manner,  entertain  one  another 
and  strangers  with  punch,  which  as  it  is  now 
usually  made,  is  no  intoxicating  liquor."  The 
historian-president  adds  with  a  judicial  pro 
nouncement  which  is  delicious:  "A  reason  more 
plausible  than  satisfactory,  as  neither  Board  could 
extend  its  control  to  the  ingredients  or  propor 
tions  of  the  mixture;"  suggesting  that  there  are 
some  things  which  even  a  College  Corporation 
cannot  regulate. 


In  Harvard  College  31 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  festive  side 
of  Commencement  was  all  that  the  boy  of  thir 
teen  saw  and  heard.  Early  in  the  forenoon  there 
was  an  imposing  procession  from  Hall  to  Meeting 
house  in  the  order  of  increasing  importance  from 
Freshmen  upward  to  the  President  walking  alone 
in  his  majesty,  followed  by  the  Governor  and  his 
troop,  who  on  a  circuitous  route  to  Cambridge  had 
advertised  the  performances  as  effectually  and  need 
lessly  as  the  street  parade  of  the  later  circus  an 
nounced  what  might  be  expected  in  the  mammoth 
tent.  Assembled  on  the  platform  built  around  the 
pulpit  on  the  north  side  of  the  ancient  edifice,  civil, 
military,  and  academic  dignitaries,  resplendent  in 
British  uniforms  of  red  and  gold,  or  in  ermine, 
velvet,  and  silk,  presented  an  array  of  color  to 
which  the  modern  display  of  collegiate  regalia  is 
as  sombre  as  the  last  leaves  of  autumn.  Nor 
was  there  an  entire  absence  of  decoration  in  the 
audience.  Indeed,  color  was  becoming  so  rampant 
and  extravagant  that  a  law  was  made  only  four 
years  later  that  "on  no  occasion  any  of  the  scholars 
shall  wear  any  gold  or  silver  lace  or  silver  brocade 
in  the  College  or  town  of  Cambridge ;  and  on  Com 
mencement  Daye  every  candidate  for  his  degree 
who  shall  appear  dressed  contrary  to  such  regula 
tion  may  not  expect  to  receive  his  degree." 

As  for  the  ladies  who  had  anticipated  this  high 
day  for  a  year  —  but  without  co-educational  ambi 
tions —  it  is  recorded  that  in  1758  one  at  least  sat 


32  John   Hancock 

up  all  night  lest  the  arrangement  of  her  coiffure 
should  be  disturbed ;  and  that  such  was  the  towering 
height  of  these  structures  that  they  had  to  be  pro 
truded  outside  the  carriage  windows ;  while  hoop 
skirts  were  of  so  "wide  circumference"  that  the 
roomy  family  coaches  could  contain  only  two  of 
them.  On  the  floor  the  scene  was  little  less  brilliant. 
Coats  of  peach-bloom  and  lavender,  waistcoats  of 
satin,  gold-laced  and  embroidered ;  smallclothes  of 
velvet,  ending  in  stockings  of  silk  in  rainbow  hues, 
with  shoes  whose  silver  buckles  flashed  responses 
to  their  like  at  knee  and  stock.  Certainly  Com 
mencement  in* the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century 
outshone  in  externals  the  scriptural  splendor  of 
"an  army  with  banners." 

When  silence  was  secured  President  Holyoke 
arose  from  his  triangular  throne  of  turned  wood 
behind  the  pulpit  canopied  by  a  sounding-board  to 
pronounce  an  invocation,  whose  solemnity  was  not 
succeeded  by  a  brazen  blare,  called  "Music"  in 
the  programmes  of  to-day.  Instead,  a  salutatory 
oration  followed  in  Latin,  addressing  principalities 
and  powers  of  Church  and  State  present,  with 
unfailing  mention  of  lower  college  classes  in  con 
descending  terms,  and  an  irrepressible  allusion 
to  feminine  spectators  in  the  south  gallery  who,  if 
they  did  not  understand  the  unknown  tongue, 
knew  by  the  constricted  smiles  of  the  elders  and 
the  broader  ones  of  the  students  that  something 
interesting  was  being  said,  and  they  fanned  them- 


In   Harvard  College  33 

selves  with  mingled  vexation,  approbation,  and 
violence.  In  the  recorded  order  of  names  and 
theses  Nathaniel  Cotton  should  have  maintained 
that  "Rerum  mudanum,  in  propriis  earum  Disposi- 
tionibus  Conservatio,  non  est  quotidiana  Creatio." 
He  was  closely  followed  to  detect  any  Arminian 
digression  from  Calvinism,  or  divagation  towards 
that  antipaedobaptist  heresy  which  had  dethroned 
President  Dunster  a  hundred  years  before;  or 
again,  if  he  had  been  tainted  by  those  "dregs  of 
papistrie,"  which  in  the  guise  .of  Episcopacy  had 
captivated  Rector  Cutler  of  the  class  of  1701, 
President  of  Yale,  and  removed  him  to  the  pastorate 
of  Christ  Church,  Boston.  Whatever  complexion 
the  pronouncement  had  it  would  not  meet  with 
unqualified  commendation,  since  theological  lines 
were  sharply  drawn  and  there  were  searchings  of 
heart  for  the  divisions  of  Reuben.  So  likewise 
when  John  Wendell  maintained  that  "Rhetorica 
est  Ars  alios  inducendi  ut  Credant  quidquid  vult 
Rhetor,"  -  with  an  unconscious  application  to  a 
graduate  who  should  bear  his  name  eighty-one 
years  later,  —  there  were  aristocratic  ears  that 
listened  for  allusions  to  "the  loyal  subjects  of  the 
best  of  monarchs,"  and  also  uneasy  auditors  who 
had  hopes  for  his  future  if  he  should  venture  to 
mention  "the  sacred  rights  and  liberties  bequeathed 
to  us  by  our  pious  fathers ; "  for  some  were  beginning 
to  have  leanings  toward  an  independence  about 
which  they  said  little  at  present.  After  further 


34  J°hn   Hancock 

discourse  in  Latin,  degrees  were  conferred  upon  the 
graduating  class  in  groups  of  four,  and  upon  Bache 
lors  of  three  years'  standing ;  but  honorary  degrees 
were  as  rare  as  the  return  of  comets,  only  two  in 
one  hundred  and  thirty-five  years. 

Exercises  finished,  the  learned  portion  of  the 
assembly  betook  itself  in  reverse  order  to  the 
Commons  Hall  for  substantial  refreshment,  and 
the  rest  departed  in  relaxed  order  to  their  homes  or 
to  the  tents  on  the  Common,  while  the  undergradu 
ates  convoyed  friends  to  their  rooms,  where  were 
set  forth  solids  and  fluids  whose  character  and 
strength  from  time  to  time  received  legislative 
attention  from  the  government  of  the  College. 
By  nightfall  the  entire  population  of  the  town  and 
strangers  within  its  gates  had  attained  to  various 
degrees  of  their  annual  exaltation  of  spirit,  academic 
and  alcoholic. 

The  contrast  of  term  days  when  they  immediately 
followed  Commencement  must  have  been  chilling 
to  a  Freshman  like  the  Hancock  youth.  At  six 
in  the  morning  he  had  to  take  his  seat  in  the  front 
row  in  Holden  Chapel  and  listen  to  the  Scriptures 
read  in  Hebrew  or  Greek  by  the  upper  classes  and  to 
an  exposition  by  President  or  Professor,  followed  by 
a  prayer  of  some  length.  If  there  was  a  psalm 
sung  its  tune  was  as  lugubrious  as  that  York 
which  Judge  Sewall  so  loved  to  set.  By  half-past 
six  relief  came  in  recitation  rooms,  and  in  more 
welcome  guise  an  hour  after,  when  a  clamoring 


In  Harvard  College  35 

crowd  jostled  one  another  at  the  buttery  hatch  for 
biscuit  and  beer,  coffee,  chocolate,  or  milk  accord 
ing  to  their  orders,  given  on  the  first  Friday  of  the 
month,  for  the  ensuing  weeks. 

These  "sizings"  or  rations  dispatched,  in  the 
yard  or  in  their  rooms,  there  were  hours  of  study 
and  recitation,  interrupted  by  "bevers,"  between- 
meals  bites,  until  dinner  when  all  assembled  in 
Commons  Hall,  sixteen  at  a  table,  to  be  served 
each  with  a  pound  of  meat  and  vegetables  in  their 
season,  brought  by  classmate  waiters.  They  also 
kept  two  pewter  mugs  replenished  with  cider, 
circulated  after  the  manner  of  loving  cups,  for 
bacilli  had  not  then  been  discovered.  Still,  it  was 
enjoined  that  drinking  vessels  should  be  scoured 
once  a  week  and  plates  twice  a  quarter.  With  an 
afternoon  bever  and  a  supper  of  bread  and  milk, 
or  of  meat  pie  and  half  a  pint  of  beer,  the  eating  of 
the  day  was  supposed  to  be  over,  at  a  cost  of  seven 
shillings  per  week.  It  has  been  observed  that  as 
the  beer  was  made  at  the  College  brew-house  it  was 
not  exceedingly  strong.  Nothing  is  said  about  the 
hardness  of  the  cider,  but  as  the  price  was  raised 
after  February  first  it  may  have  been  to  correspond 
with  its  increased  efficiency.1 

Eating  and   drinking  were  not,   however,   the 

1  "They  shall  not  frequent  the  company  of  such  men  as  lead  an 
ungirt  and  dissolute  life,  nor  be  of  the  artillery  or  train-band,  nor 
use  their  mother  tongue."  —  College  Laws,  in  Quincy's  "History 
of  Harvard,"  i,  516. 


36  John  Hancock 

principal  occupation  of  the  youth  who  foregath 
ered  at  the  College  in  the  mid-century.  Nor  did 
athletics  as  now  known  absorb  time  and  energy. 
Granting  that  mental  discipline  used  to  be  the 
chief  purpose  of  academic  life,  it  did  not  much 
matter  in  what  class  of  studies  this  was  acquired. 
During  the  first  century  and  a  half  at  Harvard  the 
curriculum  accorded  with  the  popular  habits  of 
thought  and  discussion,  whose  leaders  must  be 
trained  in  the  science  of  theology,  which  for  pro 
fessional  purposes  included  mental  and  moral  philos 
ophy  with  logic,  rhetoric,  and  language  as  channels 
of  expression.  If  students  came  with  other  pro 
fessions  than  the  ministry  in  mind,  continuous  lin 
guistic  studies  were  useful ;  and  there  was  little  of 
human  knowledge  then  possessed  that  was  not  com 
passed  by  the  instruction  of  tutors  and  professors. 
At  all  events  John  Hancock,  son  and  grandson  of 
ministers  and  nephew  of  the  founder  of  a  Hebrew 
professorship,  could  not  expect  to  escape  entirely 
from  the  traditions  of  his  family,  although  he  may 
have  looked  with  more  favor  upon  his  uncle's  book 
and  tea  trade  than  upon  his  father's  ministerial 
career.  In  any  case,  divinity  and  linguistic 
courses  were  all  that  were  to  be  had,  and  what  his 
college  companions  of  all  sorts  shared  with  him. 

Accordingly  he  bent  with  more  or  less  assiduity 
in  his  Freshman  year  to  Tully,  Virgil,  and  the  Greek 
Testament  four  days  in  the  week  and  on  Fridays 
to  Rhetoric,  with  the  Greek  Catechism  and  Ramus's 


In  Harvard  College  37 

" Definitions"  at  the  week's  end.  As  a  Sophomore 
he  recited  Burgerdiscius's  " Logic,"  Heerboord's 
"Melemata,"  disputing  Mondays  and  Tuesdays, 
reading  the  classics  every  day,  and  on  Saturday 
Wollebius's  "  Divinity."  In  his  Junior  year  there 
were  Physics,  Ethics,  Metaphysics,  Divinity,  and 
Disputes.  As  Senior  Sophister  he  attained  to 
Geometry,  Astronomy,  Geography,  and  Arithmetic 
-  a  strange  assignment  of  primary  studies,  perhaps 
as  a  concession  to  the  business  end  of  the  class,  and 
of  more  importance  to  young  Hancock  than  Wolle- 
bius,  Heerboord,  and  all  the  heavy-armed  Hollanders 
that  our  forefathers  brought  out  of  Leyden  and 
Amsterdam  to  Plymouth  and  Boston.1  Taken  all 
together  his  college  course  enabled  the  young  man 
to  discuss  divine  decrees,  foreknowledge,  predestina 
tion,  and  election  at  his  uncle's  fireside,  as  they  were 
debated  at  every  hearthstone  in  New  England; 
also  to  converse  in  Erasmian  Latin  with  minister 
and  magistrate  when  Burgundy  decanters  went 
round  the  table ;  to  keep  accounts  of  sales  and  pur 
chases  by  London  agents ;  to  know  where  were  the 
ports  to  which  his  uncle's  ships  sailed  when  he 
enlarged  his  business. 

Then  there  were  a  few  collaterals  of  instruction 

JThe  prophetic  and  anticipatory  President  Hoar  urged  the 
establishing  of  a  chemical  laboratory  and  an  ergasterium  "for 
mechanic  fancies"  in  1674,  two  hundred  years  before  a  "workshop 
course"  began  to  count  for  a  degree  in  some  colleges.  The  Great 
and  General  Court  declared  itself  against  such  a  material  and  un 
timely  innovation. 


38  John  Hancock 

not  included  in  the  curriculum,  although  sometimes 
charged  in  the  bills,  characteristic  of  the  period  and 
of  juvenile  spirits  always.  Students  were  younger 
then,  if  not  more  scholastic  in  their  behavior,  and 
their  dress  if  not  more  extravagant  was  at  least 
more  picturesque  in  the  fashion  of  it,  in  which  there 
is  good  reason  to  believe  that  John  Hancock  was  a 
leader.  Ranked  according  to  the  social  importance 
of  his  family  as  the  custom  was,  instead  of  an 
alphabetical  order,  he  had  one  of  the  best  seats  in 
Chapel  and  Hall,  with  the  right  to  help  himself  at 
table  before  his  fellows  lower  down  and  with 
privileges  of  precedence  on  all  occasions.  His 
subsequent  popularity  must  have  begun  in  college, 
and  his  social  graces  and  courtly  manners  were  not 
after-graduation  acquisitions.  From  certain  mili 
tary  ambitions  which  he  cherished  at  a  later  day 
it  is  more  than  probable  that  he  practised  the  manly 
exercises  of  sword-play  and  horsemanship,  together 
with  such  other  accomplishments  as  belonged  to  the 
society  gallant  of  the  period.  However  this  may 
be,  he  came  through  the  perils  of  fagging  and  the 
risks  of  corporal  punishment  in  the  Library,  with 
prayer  by  the  President  before  and  after,  and  more 
protracted  sufferings  in  the  Greek  Catechism  and 
Hebrew  Psalter,  with  repetitions  of  the  previous 
Sunday's  sermons,  not  to  mention  uncertainties  of 
diet  which  kept  students  in  a  state  of  intermittent 
remonstrance  and  chronic  inclination  to  war- 
dances  around  the  Rebellion  Tree,  foreshadowing 


In  Harvard  College  39 

later  gatherings  about  another  Tree  on  Boston 
Common. 

At  last  the  annual  Day  of  days  arrived  on  the 
1 7th  of  July,  1754,  when  at  the  age  of  seventeen  he 
was  listed  for  his  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts,  and  for 
the  title  of  Sir,  if  he  should  remain  in  residence. 
It  appears  that  the  Class  of  '54  distinguished 
itself  by  the  splendor  of  its  apparel  sufficiently 
to  provoke  the  sumptuary  enactments  already 
mentioned,  which  were  passed  soon  after  this 
year's  Commencement,  whose  radiance  must  have 
been  like  that  of  the  setting  sun  beneath  the  cloud- 
bank  of  a  long  and  dull  day.  Possibly  it  was  a 
compensation  to  some  for  the  monotony  of  their 
college  years.  And  it  is  fair  to  suppose  that  our 
gilded  youth  from  the  mansion  on  Beacon  Hill 
was  not  surpassed  in  his  costume  by  the  elegance  of 
any  sartorial  creations  on  that  memorable  occasion. 
Doubtless  some  of  them  were  not  inferior  to  that 
of  a  later  graduate,  who,  laws  or  no  laws  to  the  con 
trary,  took  his  degree  "dressed  in  coat  and  breeches 
of  pearl-colored  satin,  white  silk  waistcoat  and 
stockings,  buckles  in  his  shoes,  and  his  hair  pow 
dered  according  to  the  style  of  the  day."  If  this  was 
allowed  in  the  early  days  of  republican  simplicity, 
as  it  was,  what  might  have  been  the  attire  of  the 
second  colonial  mid-century  when  the  graduate 
burst  from  the  chrysalis  years  of  monastic  scholas 
ticism  into  the  glory  of  his  emancipation. 

As  for  the  intellectual  furnishing  of  the  Class  of 


40  John  Hancock 

1754,  it  could  not  have  been  mean  and  meagre  to 
be  able  to  defend  theses  which  have  been  handed 
down  with  the  names  of  the  class.  To  be  sure,  the 
Latin  phraseology  seems  to  add  to  the  erudite 
character  of  the  subjects,  as  no  doubt  the  maintain 
ing  of  them  in  the  same  tongue  contributed  some 
what  to  the  impression  created  upon  one  half  of  the 
audience  at  least.  For  example,  when  the  shortest 
of  these  propositions  was  announced:  "Anima  a 
Deo  immediate  creatur,  et  in  corpus  infunditur," 
something  of  magnificence  was  added  to  the  sim 
plicity  of  the  Biblical  account  of  man's  creation. 
So  the  disputable  dogma  that "  Grammar  determines 
the  proper  use  of  letters,  syllables,  words,  and  sen 
tences  in  whatever  language"  seems  less  common 
place  in  the  Latin  than  in  the  vernacular,  as  doubt 
less  its  defence  did  in  the  dialect  of  Cicero,  if  not  in 
his  pronunciation.  Nothing  so  daring,  however, 
was  attempted  at  this  Commencement  as  at  the 
first  one  which  young  Hancock  attended,  when  a 
Senior  risked  his  reputation  for  orthodoxy  by 
maintaining  that  "Diluvii  Noachi  causa  secundaria 
fuit  Cometae  Appropinquatio."  If  one  had  de 
fended  this  thesis  in  1910  with  two  comets  in  sight, 
what  fears  of  a  greater  flood  than  Noah's  might 
have  been  inspired.  In  attempting  to  assign  his 
possible  thesis  to  Hancock  on  the  faded  programme 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight  years  ago  it  seems 
most  likely  that  he  would  illustrate  this  one  of 
a  dramatic  complexion,  to  wit,  that  "  Anger  re- 


In  Harvard  College  41 

quires  an  excited  and  trembling  voice ;  Grief,  slow 
and  broken ;  Fear,  low  and  hesitating ;  Joy,  tran 
quil  and  soft ;  Perplexity,  serious  and  grave."  One 
would  like  to  read  such  an  argument,  if  translated, 
although  it  might  lose  thereby  some  of  the  effect 
which  its  sonorous  periods  had  upon  hearers  to 
whom  the  ancient  tongue  was  as  familiar  as  it 
was  to  Lord  Bacon  when  he  feared  to  commit  his 
greatest  work  to  the  uncertain  future  of  his  mother 
English. 

Interesting  as  these  scholastic  exercises  were  to 
our  ancestors,  the  longest  Commencement  had  an 
end  even  when  the  speaking  was  protracted  through 
the  afternoon.  At  its  close  —  there  was  no  Class- 
Day  then  —  John  Hancock  bade  good-bye  to  his 
classmates,  doubtless  in  the  order  of  their  placing 
on  the  list  which  had  hung  in  the  buttery  for  four 
years,  printed  once  for  all  upon  the  programme 
of  graduation.  Did  he  say  in  the  language  he  had 
been  required  to  use  during  the  entire  course  on 
College  grounds:  "Valete  socii  et  sodales,  unus  et 
omnes"?  Or,  "Farewell,  Henry  Dwight,"  first 
on  the  roll  and  first  to  die,  within  two  years? 
And  "  Good-bye,  Samuel  Foxcroft,"  the  next, 
survivor  of  all  fifty- three  years  later ;  and  Samuel. 
Quincy  and  Jonathan  Webb,  the  next  on  the  roll, 
both  to  outlive  himself,  whose  name  should  outlast 
those  of  the  nineteen  others  who  stood  together  on 
that  summer  evening :  William  Warner  and  Bela 
Lincoln,  Phillips  Payson  and  Benjamin  Church, 


42  J°hn  Hancock 

Samuel  Marshall  and  Daniel  Treadwell,  Nathan 
Webb,  James  Allen,  and  Nathan  Fisk,  Jason 
Haven,  Jacob  Foster,  Peter  Powers,  William  Patten 
and  Samuel  West,  —  who  lived  till  1807,  —  and  last 
of  all  Ezra  Thayer,  who  died  the  year  the  war 
broke  out.  Of  them  all  only  one  is  not ' '  lost  to  name 
and  fame."  Yet  some  did  fardels  bear,  doctors  of 
medicine,  law,  and  theology;  but  none  was  to  be 
so  adorned  with  duplicated  degrees  and  repeated 
honors  as  John  Hancock  the  handsome,  the  popu 
lar,  and  the  picturesque.1 

The  following  letter  to  his  sister  Mary,  two  years 
his  senior,  was  written  in  his  last  term  in  college :  — 

"HARVARD  COLLEGE,  May  ist,  1754. 
"DEAR  SISTER, 

"I  Believe  Time  slips  very  easie  with  you,  I  wish  you 
would  spend  one  Hour  in  writing  to  me,  I  do  assure  you  I 
should  take  it  as  a  great  favour.  There  was,  nay  now  is, 
a  report  that  you  are  going  to  be  married  very  soon,  I  should 
be  Glad  to  know  to  whom.  I  hope  you  will  give  me  an 
Invitation,  (whether  the  report  be  true  or  false  I  cannot 
tell). 

"  *  "John  Hancock,  A.M.,  also  Yale,  1769,  College  of  New  Jersey, 
1769;  LL.D.,  1792;  Brown  University,  1788;  Fellow  American 
Academy ;  Governor  Massachusetts ;  President  Continental  Con 
gress." —  "Harvard  Quinquennial  Catalogue." 

In  his  Yale  diploma  he  is  designated,  "Johannem  Hancock, 
Armigerum,  Virum  bonae,  Tarn  moribus  inculpatis,  Literis  orna- 
tum,  Artium  Liberalium  vere  Facto,  Tantorem  munincium,  nee 
non  de  Patria  quam  optime  meritum."  —  From  the  original  in  the 
possession  of  Miss  Edith  R.  Blanchard  of  Providence.  The  main 
features  of  student  life  in  John  Hancock's  day  are  gathered  from 


In   Harvard   College  43 

[  "I  hope  at  the  Return  of  Mr.  Cotton,  you  will  be  so  good 
as  to  write  to  me  I  enjoy  at  present  perfect  health,  & 
should  be  very  Glad  to  see  you. 

"Accept  my  kind  Love  to  you,  I  hope  you  are  well,  and 
I  am 

"Dear  Sister, 

"P.S.    I  give  you  much  Joy,  "Your  ever  Loving  Brother, 
but  shall  have  more  reason  so  "Till  Death  shall  separate  us, 
to  do  after  receiving  a  "  JOHN  HANCOCK.  " 

Letter  from  you."  l 

President  Quincy's  "History  of  Harvard  College"  with  further 
particulars  from  documents  in  the  archives  of  the  University. 
1  From  Ms.  Collection  of  William  P.  Greenough,  Esq.,  of  Boston. 


CHAPTER  IV 

BOSTON  AND  BUSINESS 

UNLIKE  most  graduates  John  Hancock  did  not 
have  to  confront  the  difficult  question  of  what 
vocation  he  should  follow.  His  uncle  Thomas, 
when  he  adopted  his  brother's  son,  had  definite 
intentions  'about  perpetuating  the  business  he  had 
built  up.  There  were  also  good  and  substantial 
reasons  for  the  nephew  to  go  into  his  uncle's  ware 
house  and  office  after  graduation.  Possibly  if 
his  father  had  lived  he  might  have  been  impressed 
with  some  dutiful  sentiments  about  keeping  up  the 
ministerial  succession  after  the  manner  of  the 
Mathers  and  other  clerical  families,  but  other  in 
fluences  prevailed  in  the  mansion  of  the  merchant 
uncle,  who  was  to  show  that  there  are  ways  of 
doing  good  in  unprofessional  careers.  It  may  be 
an  idle  speculation,  although  an  interesting  one, 
to  conjecture  what  sort  of  a  divine  John  Hancock 
would  have  made;  but  the  query  should  include 
life  in  the  Brain  tree  parsonage  and  eliminate  the 
environment  of  Beacon  Hill.  It  is  more  to  the 
point  to  inquire  about  the  conditions  which  made 
him  a  man  of  business  before  he  entered  upon 
public  life. 


Boston  and  Business  45 

A  glance  at  commercial  and  social  Boston  in  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  will  reveal  some  of 
the  surroundings  and  influences  into  which  the 
college  graduate  was  entering. 

To  those  who  are  familiar  with  the  Boston  of 
to-day  it  is  not  easy  to  reduce  the  city  of  700,000 
inhabitants  to  a  town  of  17,000  and  from  the 
densely  and  solidly  built  streets  covering  the  old 
peninsula  and  much  of  the  bay  to  uncrowded  acres 
by  the  waterside  and  open  home  lots  on  the  hill 
sides  facing  the  ocean,  on  which  stood  the  plain 
frame  houses  of  a  thrifty  people,  with  here  and  there 
a  more  pretentious  dwelling  of  brick  or  stone  in 
the  variable  style  now  known  as  the  Colonial  and 
imitated  with  varying  degrees  of  success.  It  was 
best  seen  from  the  harbor  as  the  busiest  port  on 
the  New  England  coast.  The  principal  wharf 
had  been  growing  seaward  with  the  waxing  pros 
perity  of  the  town  until  it  now  reached  half  a  mile 
into  the  bay,  earning  the  name  of  Long  Wharf, 
thrown  out  like  a  welcoming  gang-plank  to  ships 
of  every  nation.  At  the  sea  end  of  it  vessels 
of  the  deepest  draught  could  be  moored,  and  along 
its  sunny  side  craft  of  every  shape,  rig,  and 
denomination  tied  up  for  unloading  and  reloading. 
Designations  now  gone  by  distinguished  the 
"snow"  from  the  "ketch"  and  this  from  the 
"smack"  and  the  "schooner,"  then  a  recent  name 
improvised  by  a  bystander  when  the  first  two- 
master  "scooned"  along  the  water  from  a  Glouces- 


46  John  Hancock 

ter  shipyard  in  I7I4.1  Their  names  had  often  a 
Hebraic  cast  like  those  of  their  builders  and  captains, 
from  John  Winthrop's  "  Blessing  of  the  Bay," 
the  first  craft  built  in  New  England,  down  to  the 
" Samuel  and  Hannah,"  the  "Mary  and  Elizabeth" 
and  Andrew  Eliot's  "Abigail,"  Bartholomew 
Green's  "Silvanus,"  and  John  Hobby's  "Rebecca." 
Later  there  was  a  leaning  towards  the  virtues 
rather  than  the  graces,  as  the  "Tryal,"  "Endeavor," 
and  "Providence,"  with  now  and  then  a  look  down 
ward  to  the  water  in  the  "Dolphin"  and  the  "Swan," 
and  upward  to  the  sky  in  the  "Lark"  and  the 
'' Swallow."  Hancock's  sloop  "  Liberty"  became 
more  famous  than  any  other  craft. 

The  fellows  who  were  on  deck  were  not  uniformly 
so  sanctimonious  as  their  scriptural  prenomens 
might  lead  one  to  suppose,  at  least  when  they  were 
beyond  the  reach  of  magistrates,  deacons,  and 
custom-house  officials.  Peletiah  Hibbins,  Abinadab 
Foxcroft,  Lo-ammi  Maverick2  and  their  messmates 
were  apt  to  return  quick  and  confusing  answers 
to  any  stroller  who  dropped  unwelcome  remarks 
from  the  dock,  or  became  too  inquisitive  about  the 
last  voyage  or  the  next  one.  Too  much  curiosity 
regarding  cargoes  and  bills  of  lading  would  meet 
with  unilluminating  replies;  for  were  not  the  de- 

1  In  like  manner  on  land  there  were  vehicles  of  strange  names : 
chariots,  coaches,  calashes,  chaises,  and  chairs;   drawn  in  1742  by 
418  horses,  according  to  the  enumeration  of  that  year.  —  "Memo 
rial  History  of  Boston,"  n,  441. 

2  Fathergone  Dinley  was  a  widow's  son. 


Boston  and  Business  47 

tested  Acts  of  Navigation  passed  for  the  benefit 
of  England  ?  So  any  impertinent  inquiry  as  to  the 
number  and  variety  of  flags  carried  would  elicit  a 
recommendation  to  attend  strictly  to  the  question 
er's  own  business.  Neither  would  every  obscure 
landing-place  be  reported ;  for  the  Yankee  skipper 
knew  that  a  broad  bottom  could  enter  a  shallow 
harbor  and  that  a  short  keel  could  make  a  long 
voyage.  Had  not  the  Pilgrims  come  over  wintry 
seas  in  the  eighty- foot  ''Mayflower"  ? l 

In  a  single  year  five  hundred  and  forty  vessels, 
not  including  coasters  and  fishing  smacks,  cleared 
from  the  port  of  Boston,  carriers  for  all  the  colonies, 
the  West  Indies,  and  some  parts  of  Europe,  with 
now  and  then  a  wanderer  to  the  Orient  and  an 
estray  to  the  African  coast,  where  New  England 
rum  was  prized  above  black  captives  taken  in 
tribal  war  or  otherwise,  and  one  cargo  could 
always  be  exchanged  for  another  with  great  profit 
and  little  risk,  especially  when  royalty  was  encourag 
ing  the  slave  trade.  Nor  did  captains  buy  their 
ships  abroad  so  often  as  they  sold  them  there.  As 
early  as  1738  forty  topsail  ships  had  been  built  in  a 
single  year  in  Boston  yards,  some  of  them  to  be 
sold  after  disposing  of  their  freight.  As  for  masts 
and  spars  the  woods  were  full  of  them  for  home 
use  and  for  export  to  British  navy-yards  with  the 

1  Smuggling  in  the  eighteenth  century  was  a  reputable  and 
profitable  occupation,  practised  in  England  and  America.  —  Bel 
cher's  "First  American  Civil  War,"  1, 12. 


48  John  Hancock 

accompaniments  of  tar  and  pitch  from  the  pines 
of  Maine.  The  rope  walks  of  the  North  End 
supplied  cordage,  —  also  a  boisterous  gang  who 
were  ready  for  any  radical  movement  or  street 
row,  while  their  political  kin,  the  caulkers,  are  said 
to  have  given  to  primary  meetings  the  name  of 
caucuses. 

Across  the  main  wharf  on  the  north  side  stood  a 
long  row  of  warehouses  containing  consignments 
from  ports  far  and  wide ;  a  queer  collection  of  the 
products  of  many  climes,  their  diverse  odors 
struggling  for  preeminence,  among  which  the 
pungency  of  molasses  dripping  from  a  thousand 
hogsheads  was  always  attractive  to  bees,  boys,  and 
distillers.  A  million  and  a  quarter  gallons  of  rum 
was  the  annual  product  in  New  England,  to  be 
flavored  with  numberless  casks  of  sugar  and  sundry 
products  of  the  Spice  Islands.  So  important 
was  the  molasses  and  sugar  trade  that  the  Act  of 
Parliament  restraining  it  was  a  greater  grievance 
to  the  colonists  than  the  Stamp  Act  itself.  In  the 
warehouses  were  casks  of  choicer  liquors,  bearing 
strange  marks  branded  on  them,  and  hampers  of 
bottles  rarer  still,  as  trade  and  commerce  enriched 
the  prosperous  merchants  of  the  metropolis.  Yet 
they  were  not  drunkards  nor  brewers  and  concocters 
of  adulterated  abominations,  nor  was  their  trade 
chiefly  in  spirituous  liquors.  Gathered  from  bays 
and  shoals  along  the  coast  as  far  north  as  New 
foundland  were  stacks  of  cured  fish,  to  be  shipped 


Boston  and  Business  49 

to  countries  which  kept  their  frequent  fasts, 
though  not  after  the  manner  of  the  New  Englander 
in  his  occasional  calls  to  "fasting,  humiliation,  and 
prayer"  when  threatened  with  royal  displeasure, 
epidemic,  or  drought.  Besides  the  export  of  that 
fish  whose  image  came  to  surmount  the  pinnacle 
of  the  temple  where  the  laws  of  the  Common 
wealth  were  made,  and  to  symbolize  the  principal 
source  of  its  prosperity,  there  were  stores  of  oil  and 
whalebone  from  near  and  far-off  waters,  bales  of 
fur  from  wintry  woods,  bundles  of  clapboards, 
laths,  and  shingles,  with  such  other  lumber  and 
timber  as  would  not  be  missed  from  virgin  forests 
and  was  in  demand  in  depleted  lands  across  the 
sea.  In  exchange  for  these  domestic  superfluities 
came  back  foreign  wares  and  fabrics  of  every  sort 
and  quality,  satins  and  velvets,  damasks  and 
brocades,  services  of  silver  and  china,  linens  for 
the  table  and  wardrobe  finer  than  homespun,  and 
such  ornate  furniture  as  was  found  in  the  stately 
homes  of  England  and  France.  All  this  and  more 
went  in  and  out  the  storehouses  on  Long  Wharf  or 
its  companions,  —  Scarlett's,  Wentworth's,  Oliver's, 
Gray's,  and  Hancock's,  as  they  jutted  out  from  the 
crescent  shore  like  a  machicolated  border  to  the 
commercial  town.1  But  Long  Wharf  was  its  pride, 
and  up  from  its  pavement  ran  the  principal 
thoroughfare,  King  Street,  now  State,  to  the  most 

1  Hancock's  wharf,  from  its  position,  stretched  farther  seaward 
than  the  others. 


50  John  Hancock 

important  edifice  of  the  colonial  period,  the  Town 
House,  where  the  character  of  the  Province  was 
molded  far  more  than  in  the  Parliament  Hall  of 
jRufus  at  Westminster,  with  all  its  chartering  of 
rights  and  restricting  of  privileges. 

The  town-meeting  as  an  Anglo-Saxon  institution 
from  the  days  of  the  folk-mote  to  the  present  is  so 
familiar  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  countryside  that 
its  importance  is  often  forgotten  amidst  the 
commonplace  routine  of  its  doings.  There  is  little 
show  of  the  people's  real  majesty  as  they  talk  and 
toil  through  the  March  day  on  matters  of  local 
interest  mentioned  in  the  warrant ;  as,  for  instance, 
to  see  if  the  town  will  build  a  bridge  or  repair  a 
road,  borrow  money  or  raise  its  annual  tax.  Now 
and  then  more  important  questions  arise  which 
are  not  left  as  in  cities  to  a  governing  board,  but 
to  the  mind  and  vote  of  each  citizen,  rich  or  poor, 
informed  or  ignorant.  The  place  of  meeting  thus 
becomes  the  symbol  of  corporate  will  and  authority, 
the  meeting-house  of  the  town,  however  many  and 
diverse  may  be  its  churches.  The  day  when  the 
meeting-house  served  both  religious  and  secular 
purposes  had  long  passed  before  the  town  of  Boston 
had  completed  its  one  hundred  and  twentieth  year, 
in  1750.  The  great  fire  of  1711  had  destroyed  the 
town  house  of  1657-8,  and  in  rebuilding  it  the 
next  year  it  was  agreed  to  construct  a  house  to 
accommodate  both  the  town  and  the  colony. 
Damaged  by  fire  in  1747,  it  was  repaired  the  year 


Boston  and  Business  51 

following,  and  is  now  known  as  the  Old  State  House. 
In  the  i75o's  it  was  the  head-centre  of  the  town,  up 
to  which  ran  the  main  street  from  Long  Wharf, 
as  has  been  observed.  It  was  a  stately  edifice  for 
its  day,  a  hundred  and  ten  feet  in  length,  thirty- 
eight  feet  wide,  and  three  stories  high,  surmounted 
by  a  tower  in  three  orders  of  architecture,  Tuscan, 
Doric,  and  Ionic.  Its  lower  floor  for  more  than  half 
a  century  was  "a  covered  walk  for  any  of  the 
inhabitants,"  an  exchange  for  men  of  business  and 
affairs  who  were  accustomed  to  assemble  there  at 
one  o'clock  every  day  and  discuss  informally  such 
matters  as  were  uppermost,  strike  bargains,  fore 
cast  the  weather,  the  crops,  the  fishing,  and  the 
royal  policy.  On  the  next  floor  were  the  halls  of  the 
Great  and  General  Court,  and  legislative  com 
mittee  rooms  over  these  on  the  third  floor.  But 
popular  sentiment  on  any  measure,  from  the 
governor's  salary  to  the  port  bills,  and  the  general 
opinion  on  any  man,  from  the  governor  to  the 
pirate  in  the  ofling,  could  be  ascertained  without 
difficulty  among  the  ten  pillars  which  supported 
the  halls  of  legislation,  just  as  the  citizens  who 
moved  around  them  upheld  the  government  so 
long  as  the  majority  —  a  small  one  —  could  endure 
its  demands  made  through  ten  royal  governors  in 
the  provincial  period,  from  1692  to  1775.* 

1  Interesting  particulars  about  many  of  these  old-time  worthies 
are  given  in  "Dealings  with  the  Dead,  by  a  Sexton  of  the  Old 
School,"  i,  n. 


52  John  Hancock 

It  was  a  distinguished  succession  of  men  who 
came  and  went  to  and  from  that  Town  House  of 
Boston  before  and  after  the  restoration  of  1748. 
To  mention  names  of  representatives  to  the 
General  Court  in  the  decade  now  under  considera 
tion  and  the  following  will  be  sufficient :  Harrison 
Gray,  James  Bowdoin,  William  Cooper,  John 
Phillips,  James  Otis,  Samuel  Adams,  Oxenbridge 
Thacher,  John  Adams,  John  Hancock,  and  others 
who  were  famous  men  in  their  day,  the  pre-revolu- 
tion  period.  There  also  were  seen  the  flowing 
robes  of  judges  and  lawyers  who  found  plenty  of 
business  in  these  stirring  times.  Divines  too 
dropped  in  at  midday,  keeping  up  the  tradition 
if  not  the  authority  of  ministers  who  ruled  with 
magistrates  in  the  Puritan  period.  No  such  forum 
can  now  be  found  in  all  the  land  where  men  are 
rated  and  opinions  weighed  for  what  they  are 
worth. 

It  is  characteristic  of  the  town  that  booksellers* 
shops  should  gather  around  this  focus  of  its  commer 
cial  and  political  life.  Schools  and  a  near-by  college 
had  made  the  community  one  of  more  than  ordinary 
intelligence  and  of  considerable  cultivation.  There 
were  merchants  who  had  not  forgotten  their 
Latin  and  Greek,  and  who  could  appreciate  a 
classical  allusion  and  quote  a  line  from  Virgil  or 
Homer.  As  for  Scriptural  quotations,  they  recog 
nized  them  when  Dr.  Byles  or  Reverend  Samuel 
Sewall  sprung  them  upon  a  public  meeting  in  the 


Boston  and  Business  53 

original  tongues.  Educated  in  these,  it  is  not 
strange  that  the  learned  classes  created  a  demand 
for  the  ancient  classics,  which  constituted  a  good 
part  of  booksellers'  stocks,  to  which  were  added 
the  writings  of  men  whose  intellectual  food  had 
been  the  old  literatures.  From  the  present  view 
point  this  product  was  dreary  reading,  but  that 
generation  was  not  ready  to  accept  something 
better  from  English  sources.  It  was  heroic  in  its 
mental  exercises,  its  intellectual  digestion  un 
impaired  by  fiction,  and  its  psychic  medicines  as 
staggering  as  the  nauseous  compounds  which  only 
the  fittest  survived,  and  the  weak  regarded  as  a 
visitation  of  Providence.  Reading  was  then  one  of 
the  duties,  not  a  diversion;  an  "exercise/5  not  a 
recreation.  Accordingly,  the  writers  of  Queen 
Anne's  reign  and  later  were  not  largely  ordered  from 
London  agents  who  were  sending  every  other  luxury 
to  Boston  aristocrats  and  scholars.  They  pre 
ferred  Cotton  Mather's  "Last  Discourses  in  Nature 
with  Religious  Improvements,"  the  beginning  here 
of  a  drift  away  from  a  strictly  theological  literature. 
But  belles-lettres  were  slow  to  arrive.  Cox's  cata 
logue  of  "books  on  all  the  arts  and  sciences"  for  sale 
at  the  Lamb  on  the  south  side  of  the  Town  House, 
contained  eight  hundred  titles,  largely  theological, 
classical,  and  historical ;  but  poetry,  which  for 
the  New  Englander  had  been  a  relief  to  his  gloom 
or  an  expression  of  it,  as  Young's  "  Night  Thoughts," 
for  example,  was  represented  by  Prior,  Otway, 


54  J°hn  Hancock 

Shad  well,  and  Company,  "  limited"1  in  genius,  and 
by  a  few  copies  of  Congreve,  Wycherley,  and  Aphra 
Behn  which  had  come  over  as  stowaways  and  were 
properly  regarded  as  unwholesome  aliens  and 
unwelcome.  An  occasional  copy  of  Swift's  "  Mis 
cellanies,"  the  "Tatler,"  " Guardian"  and  " Spec 
tator"  might  creep  in,  but,  strangely,  Shake 
speare  and  Milton  were  not  represented  in  the 
above  list. 

'Other  booksellers  who  were  established  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Town  House  were  in  1750  successors 
of  earlier  members  of  the  guild ;  Samuel  Phillips 
in  Cornhill,  John  Checkley  "  over  against  the  west 
end  of  the  Town  House  at  the  sign  of  the  Crown 
and  Blue  Gate,"  who  was  prosecuted  for  calling 
Congregational  ministers  schismatics  in  "A  Plea 
for  the  Church  of  England  "  ;  Benjamin  Eliot,  under 
the  Exchange,  James  Rivington,  of  London  repute, 
John  Mein,  who  established  the  first  circulating 
library,  Daniel  Henchman,  close  by  at  the  corner  of 
Cornhill,  called  the  most  eminent  and  enterprising 
bookseller  that  appeared  in  all  British  America 
before  1775,  a  publisher  of  books  printed  for  him  in 
London  and  Boston,  also  proprietor  of  the  first 
paper-mill  in  America.  His  apprentice  and  son- 
in-law  Thomas  Hancock  had  his  bookstore  near  the 
water  in  Ann  Street  by  the  drawbridge  until  1730, 
when  he  added  general  merchandise,  increased 
his  fortune,  and  became  one  of  the  principal  com 
mercial  persons  of  New  England.  Envious  persons 


Boston  and  Business  55 

asserted  that  he  made  the  bulk  of  his  fortune  by 
importing  tea  in  hogsheads  from  the  Dutch  island 
of  St.  Eustace  and  selling  it  to  army  posts,  paying 
duties  upon  a  few  chests  only  for  form's  sake. 

This  distant  view  of  the  commercial  and  in 
tellectual  aspect  of  the  thriving  town  twenty  years 
before  the  outbreak  against  the  mother  country 
indicates  the  daily  life  into  which  young  John 
Hancock  entered  under  the  patronage  of  his  pros 
perous  uncle.  Doubtless  the  daily  round  of  it 
was  commonplace  and  tiresome  at  ledger  and  letter 
book,  among  bales  and  casks,  bundles  and  boxes. 
Yet  it  was  no  worse  than  the  life  many  men  were 
leading  who  became  distinguished  for  something 
more  than  success  in  trade.  With  these  townsmen 
he  was  brought  in  contact  in  the  market-place, 
on  the  wharves,  and  in  the  streets  which  ran  up  the 
slope  or  crossed  these  on  the  amphitheatre  side  of  the 
town  facing  the  harbor.  He  met  them  to  the  most 
profit  in  the  post-prandial  stroll  and  talk  on  'change 
at  the  Town  House,  in  the  bookshops  where 
Harvard  men  were  sure  to  be  found,  and  also  in 
another  building  which  stood  next  in  importance  to 
the  one  that  has  been  mentioned,  Faneuil  Hall. 

Peter  Faneuil,  born  in  New  Rochelle,  New 
York,  in  1700,  like  John  Hancock  inherited  the  bulk 
of  his  fortune  from  an  uncle,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
death  in  1742  was  accounted  the  richest  man  in 
Boston.  His  house  and  grounds  on  Tremont 
Street,  opposite  King's  Chapel,  if  they  could  be 


56  John  Hancock 

restored  would  be  the  envy  of  dwellers  on  the  Back 
Bay.  The  fortunate  nephew  did  not  fail  to  keep 
up  the  grandeur  and  luxury  of  his  predecessor, 
ordering  from  London  a  fortnight  after  the  "gener 
ous  and  expensive  funeral"  a  handsome  chariot 
with  two  sets  of  harness  "  having  the  family  arms  on 
the  same."  Also  five  pipes  of  Madeira,  "the  best, 
for  the  use  of  my  house ;  and  the  latest  best  book 
on  cookery,  of  the  largest  character,  for  the  benefit 
of  the  maid's  reading."  Although  he  exacted  jus 
tice  in  settling  with  his  uncle's  debtors,  and  was 
shrewd  in  continuing  his  business,  he  was  also 
public  spirited  and  benevolent  towards  the  com 
munity  in  which  his  fortune  had  been  amassed. 

The  question  of  a  public  market  had  disturbed  the 
old  town  as  much  as  it  does  modern  cities,  with  the 
antagonism  of  private  enterprise  against  general 
convenience.  Three  market  buildings  had  been 
abandoned  and  one  torn  down  when  Faneuil 
offered  to  build  a  creditable  one  at  his  own  expense, 
and  generously  enlarged  his  proposal  after  it  had 
been  reluctantly  and  ungraciously  accepted  by  a 
majority  of  only  seven  votes  out  of  seven  hundred 
and  twenty-seven.  It  was  two  years  in  building; 
but  the  vote  was  then  unanimous  that  it  was  a 
"most  generous  and  noble  benefaction."  A  large 
and  distinguished  delegation  conveyed  to  the  donor 
most  hearty  thanks  for  so  bountiful  a  gift  with  the 
desire  to  perpetuate  his  memory  by  naming  it 
Faneuil  Hall.  This  was  gratifying  to  the  builder, 


Boston  and  Business  57 

and  also  seasonable ;  for  the  first  annual  town 
meeting  held  in  the  spacious  edifice  was  the  occasion, 
on  March  14,  1742,  of  delivering  his  eulogy  by  John 
Lovell,  master  of  the  Latin  School,  who  dwelt  upon 
his  private  charities  and  public  munificence,  aljud- 
ing  to  "this  building  erected  at  immense  charge, 
for  the  convenience  and  ornament  of  the  town,  as 
incomparably  the  greatest  benefaction  ever  yet 
known  to  our  Western  shore."  For  nineteen  years 
it  was  the  daily  resort  of  the  town  in  its  buying  and 
selling  on  the  first  floor,  and  above  citizens  met 
in  the  capacity  of  freemen  loyal  to  the  crown,  with 
an  outlook  sometimes  on  the  part  of  an  increasing 
number  toward  an  unrestricted  liberty  of  self-rule. 
This  building  was  burned  on  the  i3th  of  January, 
1761,  and  with  it  the  king's  portrait  which  had  been 
hung  within ;  an  omen  to  some  that  the  period  of 
loyalty  was  passing  away.  The  new  edifice  which 
the  town  erected  after  some  hesitation  became  the 
scene  of  revolutionary  debate,  and  of  subsequent 
congratulation,  until  in  1805  a  third  story  was  added 
and  the  hall  widened  thirty  feet,  symbolizing 
the  broader  views  and  the  rapid  growth  of  the  town 
under  democracy.  The  eulogies  and  discussions 
heard  then  belong  to  the  later  period  of  indepen 
dence  ;  but  the  first  hall  and  market  were  in  im 
portance  the  second  meeting-place  of  the  inhab 
itants  during  John  Hancock's  first  seven  years 
among  the  business  activities  of  the  town,  which 
may  be  considered  the  years  of  his  apprenticeship 


58  J°hn  Hancock 

and    preparation    for    conditions  which   were   to 
follow. 

Life  in  Boston,  however,  was  not  wholly  com 
mercial,  a  thing  entirely  of  trade,  barter,  and  ship 
ping.  Then  as  now  these  were  the  business  of  the 
daytime,  when  the  maxims  of  "Poor  Richard" 
were  quoted  and  observed  by  a  thrifty  people  as 
the  gospel  of  wealth ;  but  when  the  day  was  over 
there  were  diversions  in  which  a  town  of  seven 
teen  thousand  inhabitants  found  relief  from  activi 
ties  far  less  strenuous  and  wearing  than  those  of 
the  present.  As  competition  was  moderate,  no 
trusts  and  syndicates  crowding  the  individual  trader 
and  producer  to  the  wall,  extremes  of  fortune  were 
less  frequent  and  life  was  saner  and  less  feverish 
than  it  now  is.  In  consequence  amusements 
were  wholesome,  the  people  contenting  them 
selves  with  entertainments  which  did  not  violate 
somewhat  severe  ideas  that  still  persisted  in  the 
shadow  of  Puritan  traditions,  which  themselves 
had  lost  much  of  their  original  strictness.  The 
Sabbath,  as  they  continued  to  call  the  first  day  of 
the  week,  was  kept  with  restraint  from  Saturday's 
sunset  till  Sunday's,  but  the  Thursday  lecture  was 
not  as  formerly  the  chief  relaxation  of  ordinary 
weeks  when  no  tragedy  or  semi-tragedy  was 
enacted  on  the  scaffold  or  at  the  whipping-post. 
Complaints  were  heard  that  this  half-religious, 
half-political  lectureship  was  not  attended  as  of 
yore,  and  that  the  times  were  degenerating;  a 


Boston  and  Business  59 

species  of  lament  which  will  always  be  uttered  until 
the  limit  of  decline  is  reached  and  catastrophe  in 
troduces  a  new  order. 

If  it  is  asked  what  diversions  met  the  natural 
demand,  according  to  the  approach  of  any  genera 
tion  to  what  is  reasonable  and  wholesome,  it  may 
be  premised  that  appetites  were  not  jaded  and 
palled  in  the  period  under  consideration.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  Arcadian 
simplicity  did  not  prevail  in  a  seaport  town  within 
six  weeks'  sail  of  London,  when  citizens  of  both 
places  were  going  and  coming  with  increasing 
frequency.  Moreover,  the  wealthiest  Bostonians 
had  their  agents  and  correspondents  in  the  British 
metropolis,  charged  to  keep  them  informed  of 
society  doings,  customs,  and  fashions,  which  were 
followed  here  so  far  as  the  religious  and  social 
atmosphere  permitted.  Again,  it  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  there  was  a  sort  of  court  circle  in 
the  capital  of  the  Bay  Province  composed  of 
officials  representing  the  crown  and  government, 
from  the  royal  governor  down  to  the  customs  officers, 
and  from  the  commander  of  his  majesty's  forces 
to  the  subaltern  who  wore  the  glaring  uniform  of 
the  army.  Then  there  were  families  who  were 
loyal  supporters  and  ardent  admirers  of  these 
representatives  of  royalty,  and  the  lines  of  social 
distinction  between  the  civil  and  official  upper 
classes  were  not  always  sharply  drawn.  Inter 
change  of  courtesies  and  hospitalities  thus  became 


60  J°hn  Hancock 

a  marked  feature  of  high  life,  and  of  lower,  too,  in 
Boston  Town. 

As  the  political  element  was  symbolized  by  the 
Town  Hall,  and  the  commercial  by  Faneuil  Hall, 
so  the  social  life  found  its  emblem  in  the  stately 
mansion  known  as  the  Province  House,  the  official 
residence  of  the  royal  governors  after  1716,  although 
most  of  them  had  their  country  houses  in  Milton, 
Roxbury,  or  Cambridge.  This  lordly  edifice  of 
five  floors  had  its  broad  lawn,  shady  with  trees, 
and  its  terraced  gardens  running  up  the  declivity 
opposite  the  old  South  Church  to  High  Street, 
which  ran  from  Cornhill  to  Roxbury.  Within  the 
house  was  the  governor's  office  and  also  furnished 
apartments  for  distinguished  guests,  with  banquet 
ing  rooms  where  they  could  meet  the  aristocracy 
of  the  province,  the  few  who  could  grace  a  royal 
court  in  costume  and  manners,  in  fashions,  display, 
and  civility.  And  here  and  there,  radiating  from 
"this  central  scene  of  the  chief  pagentries,  gayeties, 
and  formalities  of  the  king's  vice-court  in  Boston," 
which  Hawthorne  has  enshrined  in  legend,  on 
hillsides  and  within  spacious  grounds  were  other 
mansions  with  wide  halls,  carved  stairways, 
panelled  drawing-rooms,  and  dining  rooms  whose 
furnishings  were  the  token  of  abounding  hospitality, 
itself  the  principal  entertainment  of  an  opulent 
minority  and  many  imitators,  according  to  their 
several  ability.  How  lavish  good  cheer  could  be 
in  a  day  when  appetites  were  keen  and  the  cost  of 


Boston  and  Business  61 

provisions  small  is  indicated  by  the  traveller 
Bennett,  whose  manuscript  has  been  a  mine  of  in 
formation  to  writers  on  this  period.  According 
to  this  careful  observer  Boston  was  well  served 
with  everything  that  the  country  afforded;  meats 
at  one  and  two  pence  a  pound,  a  haunch  of  venison 
for  half  a  crown,  a  good  turkey  for  two  shillings, 
one-third  the  price  in  London,  a  goose  for  ten  pence, 
fowls  and  chickens  for  two  and  three  pence  and 
wild  pigeons  for  three  pence  a  dozen.  Fresh  cod 
could  be  had  for  two  pence,  and  a  salmon  of  fifteen 
pounds  for  a  shilling,  and  great  lobsters  for  three 
half  pence.  " As  to  drink,"  he  says,  "they  have  no 
good  beer  in  this  country.  Medium  wines  and  rum 
punch  are  the  liquors  they  drink  and  cider  at  three 
shillings  a  barrel." 

With  this  enumeration  of  prices  it  is  noticeable 
that  the  discussion  of  the  high  cost  of  living  as  well 
as  the  cost  of  high  living^  is  conspicuously  absent. 
On  the  contrary,  the  comparison  that  is  frequently 
made  with  London  prices  must  have  induced 
emigration  to  a  land  of  cheap  profusion.  The 
political  economist  will  offset  these  advantages 
with  the  low  price  of  labor,  but  it  was  higher  than 
in  England  then  as  now,  and  the  two  factors  to 
gether  promoted  immigration  in  days  when  no 
passenger  agents  were  painting  the  glories  of 
America  in  sunset  colors  of  purple  and  gold.  The 
colonist  found  the  abundance  real  and  the  crown 
officer  found  hospitality  generous,  and  its  inter- 


62  J°hn  Hancock 

change  an  agreeable  diversion.  Aside  from  formal 
occasions  similar  entertainment  was  furnished 
when  "for  their  domestic  amusement  every  after 
noon,  after  drinking  tea,  the  gentlemen  and  ladies 
walk  in  the  Mall,1  and  from  thence  adjourn  to  one 
another's  houses  to  spend  the  evening,  —  those 
that  are  not  disposed  to  attend  the  evening  lecture ; 
which  they  may  do  if  they  please  six  nights  in 
seven  the  year  round."  There  were  also  athletic 
sports,  riding,  hunting,  skating;  sleigh-rides  in 
winter  to  some  country  tavern,  followed  by  supper 
and  a  dance,  and  in  summer  excursions  down  the 
harbor,  picnics  on  the  islands,  tea-parties  in  the 
country,  and  homeward  drives  by  moonlight. 

Beyond  these  social  entertainments  of  a  family 
and  friendly  character,  and  the  lectures,  there  was 
not  much  to  call  staid  folk  away  from  their  fire 
sides,  although  these  were  not  always  comfortable  in 
the  period  of  open  fireplaces  when  wood  in  town 
was  one  of  the  most  expensive  articles  of  house 
keeping,  though  it  could  be  had  in  the  country  for 
the  cutting.  As  early  as  1717  importing  of  sea 
coal  from  Louisburg  was  considered  by  the  town. 
In  the  dearth  of  evening  amusements  the  selectmen 
of  Boston  did  not  permit  dramatic  plays  or  music 
halls;  but  a  company  of  " restive  persons"  set 

1  John  Hancock  helped  to  adorn  it  by  setting  out  a  row  of  lime 
trees  opposite  his  estate.  He  also  erected  a  stand  on  the  Common 
and  furnished  a  band  to  give  concerts  on  pleasant  afternoons. 
—  Mary  F.  Ayer's  "Early  Days  on  Boston  Common,"  p.  22. 


Boston  and  Business  63 

up  an  assembly,  to  which  some  of  the  ladies  re 
sorted.  But  they  were  looked  upon  as  "none  of  the 
nicest  in  regard  to  their  reputation";  and  there 
was  talk  of  suppressing  this  movement,  so  incon 
gruous  to  the  religious  and  sober  sentiments  of  a 
part  of  the  community.  It  persisted,  however, 
and  "  consisted  of  fifty  gentlemen  and  ladies  of 
fashion  in  the  town."  The  chronicler  adds : 
"They  don't  seem  to  be  dispirited  nor  moped  for 
want  of  diversion,  but  dress  and  appear  as  gay  as 
courtiers  in  England  on  a  coronation  or  birthday. 
And  the  ladies  here  visit,  drink  tea,  and  neglect 
the  affairs  of  their  families  with  as  good  grace  as 
the  finest  ladies  in  London."  An  account  of  what 
they  wore  on  great  occasions  would  rival  anything 
in  the  society  columns  of  modern  newspapers. 

For  rural  sports  there  was  shooting  in  woods 
abounding  in  game  and  fishing  in  streams  that 
needed  no  restocking.  Frequent  musters  of  militia 
combined  diversion  with  military  duty  and  display, 
cultivating  loyalty  to  the  crown,  and  unconsciously 
educating  a  growing  people  toward  eventual  inde 
pendence  through  strife,  of  which  fanatics  only  had 
as  yet  dared  to  dream.  Then  there  was  some 
horseplay  in  town  and  country  which  smacked  of 
the  rude  sports  of  Old  England  in  an  age  when  the 
finer  sensibilities  were  at  a  discount.  The  middle 
and  lower  classes  had  their  own  ways  of  entertaining 
themselves  after  the  workday  was  done.  Taverns 
were  then,  as  the  saloons  are  now,  the  club-rooms  of 


64  J°hn  Hancock 

the  commonalty,  except  that  the  public  house  bar 
room  was  not  avoided  by  a  respectable  contingent, 
as  the  dram-shop  now  is.  Poins  and  Bardolph, 
sitting  on  the  wall  bench,  saw  an  officer,  by  no 
means  a  Falstaff,  drop  in  for  a  drink,  and  they 
might  themselves  be  invited  to  take  a  dram  with 
him  or  some  well-to-do  tradesman.  There  were 
hostelries  also  that  were  in  high  favor  with  the  aris 
tocracy  and  became  noted  resorts.  The  Admiral 
Vernon  Tavern  down  by  the  water  and  the  Crown 
Coffee  House  at  the  lower  end  of  King  Street  where 
Long  Wharf  began,  the  Blue  Anchor  by  Oliver's 
Dock,  the  Ship  Tavern  at  Clark's  Wharf,  the  Sun 
and  the  Half  Moon  and  the  Golden  Ball  near  by 
were  resorts  where  yarns  of  seafarers  were  spun 
for  the  delectation  and  astonishment  of  landsmen. 
Higher  up  were  inns  where  men  of  trade  and  politics 
were  accustomed  to  meet,  especially  at  the  Royal 
Exchange  by  the  Town  House.  Next  to  this  official 
edifice  the  tavern  close  by  became  the  head  centre 
of  the  community,  dignified  after  the  fire  of  1747 
by  the  temporary  sessions  of  the  General  Court. 
There  also  the  young  bloods  of  the  town  "spent 
their  evenings  in  drinking,  gaming,  and  recounting 
their  love  affairs."  The  Masonic  fraternity  were 
glad  to  patronize  brother  Luke  Vardy,  keeper 
of  the  inn  and  its  bar.  What  was  sold  there  might 
have  helped  start  the  scrimmage  which  ended  in 
the  first  bloody  encounter  of  the  Revolution, 
called  the  Massacre,  which  took  place  in  front  of 


Boston  and  Business  65 

this  tavern.  It  was  a  favorite  haunt  of  the  British 
officers,  as  was  the  British  Coffee-house,  noted 
for  the  performance  of  Otway's  "  Orphans,"  which 
caused  a  law  to  be  enacted  in  1758  against  stage 
plays.  The  Bunch  of  Grapes  in  King  Street 
was  the  rallying-place  of  Whigs  when  rebellion 
was  rising ;  and  here  the  first  grand  lodge  of  Masons 
was  organized  on  July  20,  1733,  by  Henry  Price,  a 
Boston  tailor,  who  had  received  authority  from 
Lord  Montague,  Grand  Master  of  England.  The 
Blue  Anchor  around  the  corner  had  always  been 
a  resort  of  the  magistrates  and  clergy,  who  were 
usually  cheek  by  jowl  in  political  and  social  af 
fairs  and  gave  official  and  professional  dignity 
to  the  old  inn.  Among  Chief  Justice  Sewall's 
notes  in  his  diary  this  one  is  often  recurring,  - 
"The  deputies  treated  and  I  treated."  On  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  occasions  of  importance  clerical 
and  lay  dignitaries  together  ran  up  an  imposing 
score  for  wines  and  spirits,  relieving  and  enlivening 
their  normal  solemnity. 

In  political  distinction  the  Green  Dragon  in 
Union  Street  surpassed  all  the  rest.  It  was  at 
this  tavern  that  the  promoters  of  revolt  against 
British  domination  enlisted  useful  allies  from 
shipyards,  ropewalks,  and  docks.  Here  were  held 
caucuses  which  were  managed  by  a  few  leading 
politicians  like  Sam  Adams  and  Dr.  Warren,  who 
gave  to  some  master  mechanic  the  honor  of  pre 
siding,  and  thus  won  the  favor  of  his  guild.  There 


66  John  Hancock 

is  reason  to  believe  that  the  last  meeting  held  there 
hatched  the  plot  to  destroy  the  tea,  as  afterward 
the  club  changed  its  headquarters. 

There  were  other  clubs,  meeting  at  other  taverns 
and  at  private  houses,  as  relations  between  the 
province  and  the  crown  became  strained.  The 
radical  doings  of  the  Sons  of  Liberty  may  not  have 
been  helped  on  by  their  meeting  in  the  office  of  a 
distillery,  but  these  democratic  mechanics  were  in 
dangerous  proximity  to  an  unfailing  source  of 
bravado  and  disorder.  Some  of  their  lawlessness 
and  vandalism  had  best  be  accounted  for  and  ex 
cused  on  the  ground  of  patriotic  zeal  being  inflamed 
by  artificial  stimulants;  the  wanton  destruction 
of  Governor  Hutchinson's  collections  of  art  and 
literature,  for  example. 

All  together  the  fifty  or  more  taverns,  inns,  and 
coffee-houses  which  were  thriving  in  Boston  in  the 
eighteenth  century  indicate  the  social  and  festive 
disposition  of  its  citizens,  or  perhaps  the  recognized 
need  of  counteracting  chilly  winds  in  their  possi 
ble  effect  upon  character.  Taking  them  together, 
their  stately  dinners,  evening  assemblies,  afternoon 
tea  drinkings,  tavern  routs,  and  such  lectures  as 
were  provided  from  Sunday  to  Saturday  for  the 
sober-minded,  it  may  be  concluded  that  the  in 
habitants  of  the  provincial  capital  were  not  far 
behind  London  itself  in  the  variety  and  manner 
of  their  entertainments,  the  drama  excepted. 

This  outline  of  commercial,  political,  and  social 


Boston  and  Business  67 

Boston  may  help  one  to  understand  the  life  which  a 
young  man  of  fortune  and  fashion  led  in  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  Republican  ideas  were 
not  yet  common,  even  if  democratic  manners  here 
and  there  prevailed  along  the  wharves,  in  ship 
yards,  and  to  some  extent  in  the  countryside. 
There  were  grumblings  and  complaints  enough 
against  royal  governors,  but  tokens  of  respect  and 
forms  of  loyalty  persisted,  with  much  evasion  of 
laws  which  restricted  and  oppressed.  Besides, 
there  was  always  the  controlling  power  of  the 
aristocracy,  loyal  to  the  crown  and  on  terms  with 
its  deputies  and  officials ;  the  class  which  made  the 
unwritten  laws  of  fashion  in  sentiment  as  well  as  in 
costume  and  custom ;  the  folk  who  were  not  ready 
to  contemplate  changes  from  bad  to  worse,  from 
known  conditions  to  those  unknown,  uncertain,  and 
untried.  In  this  circle  was  Thomas  Hancock's 
nephew,  with  no  revolutionary  notions  in  his  head 
as  yet,  going  to  his  business  apprenticeship  as  to  a 
graduate  school  day  by  day,  prominent  in  the  gaye- 
ties  of  his  set,  flattered  no  doubt  by  queenly  dames 
and  smiled  upon  by  fair  daughters,  whose  fathers 
could  not  disapprove  of  an  exemplary  young  man, 
prospective  heir  to  a  large  business,  fortune,  and 
the  lordliest  mansion  on  Beacon  Hill  with  its 
crowning  acres,  to  warehouse,  stores,  and  wharf, 
with  ships  in  the  harbor  and  on  the  seas. 


CHAPTER  V 

IN  LONDON 

THIS  routine  of  business  and  round  of  social  life 
was  continued  for  six  years.  At  the  expiration 
of  this  term  of  practical  apprenticeship  Thomas 
Hancock  had  seen  enough  of  the  young  man's 
fidelity  and  capacity  to  warrant  further  preparation 
for  the  growing  responsibilities  that  were  likely 
to  fall  upon  his  nephew  at  his  own  decease.  In 
the  close  and  constant  relations  of  American  trade 
to  the  controllers  of  it  in  Great  Britain  it  was  of 
advantage  to  know  as  much  as  possible  of  foreign 
methods  and  of  the  lords  of  trade  and  finance. 
Something  could  be  learned  by  correspondence  and 
from  agents,  but  more  by  personal  acquaintance 
and  presence  in  the  metropolis.  Accordingly 
Thomas  Hancock  determined  to  send  his  nephew  to 
London  in  1760,  he  being  then  twenty- three  years  of 
age  and  a  most  presentable  young  man.  There  is 
no  evidence,  however,  that  there  were  "  melting 
persuasions  and  wonderful  melting  assurances  from 
the  Lord  that  he  must  go  to  England,"  such  as  In 
crease  Mather  had  on  a  certain  occasion,  and  which 
others  have  had  since  his  day.  To  prepare  the  way 
for  him  the  uncle  wrote  to  his  London  agents:  — 


In  London  69 

"GENTN.  BOSTON,  May  21,  1760. 

"I  have  given  my  Nephew  Mr.  John  Hancock,  who  has 
been  with  me  many  years  in  Business  an  oppor'y  of  Going 
to  London  to  see  my  Friends  &  Settle  my  Acc'ts  with  whom 
they  are  open,  &  he  has  Taken  his  Passage  in  Capt  Patten 
on  board  the  ship  Benjamin  &  Samuel,  will  Sail  in  about  Ten 
days  from  this  date,  by  him  I  shall  write  you  again,  &  I  am 
to  desire  you  to  be  so  kind  as  to  provide  him  with  good 
Lodgings  where  you  think  will  be  most  convenient  for  him 
with  Reputable  people,  he  goes  with  Gov'r  Pownall,  and 
on  his  Return  I  propose  to  Take  him  in  a  Partner  with  me 
in  Business.  Should  he  be  Taken  on  his  Passage  &  Carried 
to  France  or  else  where  I  have  given  him  leave  to  draw  upon 
you  for  what  money  he  may  want.  I  desire  you  will  please 
to  pay  his  Bills  &  charge  the  same  to  my  Acc't 
"I  am  Gent'n  Your  most  obed't  &  Humb  Serv 

"THOS  HANCOCK" 

"You  will  Supply  my  Nephew  Mr.  John  Hancock  what 
money  he  may  want  for  expenses  in  England  &  answer  such 
Bills  as  I  may  Draw  upon  you  from  hence. 

"Messrs  Kilby  Barnard  &  Parker 
"  Merchants  London."  1 

On  May  23  he  wrote  another  letter  to  them  in 
which  he  remarked,  "He  is  a  sober  Modest  Young 
Gentleman."  The  substance  of  the  above  letter 
was  also  written  to  Treothick,  Apthorp,  and 
Thomlinson,  and  to  Wright  and  Gill,  Hungerford 

1  In  this  and  the  following  five  extracts  from  letters  the  author  is 
indebted  to  the  Librarian  of  the  New  England  Historic  Genealogi 
cal  Society  for  the  privilege  of  copying  unpublished  manuscript 
material  from  the  Letter  Books  of  Thomas  and  John  Hancock 
in  the  possession  of  the  Society. 


70  J°hn  Hancock 

Spooner,  Thomas  Lane,  Thomas  Griffiths,  Thomas 
Bristol,  and  William  Jones,  London. 

The  following  letter  of  June  7,  to  "John  Pownall, 
Esq'r,  Secre'y,"  fixes  the  date  of  sailing  and  price 
of  passage. 

"SiR.  Inclosed  you  have  a  letter  for  your  Brother  and 
his  Excellency  Gov'r  Pownall,  who  embarked  on  board  the 
Ship  Benjamin  and  Samuel  Capt.  Patten,  2d  Inst.,  and  I 
wish  you  may  have  a  happy  Sight  of  him  before  this  reaches 
you.  the  Winds  have  proved  Contrary  for  three  Days  past, 
which  gave  Mrs.  Hancock  &  me  great  uneasiness,  but  hope 
all  is  well.  .  .  .  you  have  likewise  a  Rec't  for  one  hundred 
&  fifty  Pounds  Sterling  paid  Mr.  Benj'a  Hallo  well  owner 
of  the  Ship  Benjamin  and  Samuel  for  his  Passage  to  London, 
all  which  I  am  desired  by  your  good  Brother  to  forward  you." 

In  a  letter  to  John,  June  14,  he  wrote :  — 

"After  you  sailed  we  had  E.  &  N.E.  Winds  &  Dirt.  Mrs. 
Hancock  was  very  uneasy,  I  told  her  all  was  well,  Our  best 
Respects  to  Gov'r  Pownall,  hope  to  hear  you  had  a  good 
Passage.  This  goes  by  way  of  Lisbon." 

The  next  day  he  wrote  to  Kilby,  Barnard,  and 
Parker :  — 

"Should  he  not  arrive  in  any  Reasonable  Time,  or  be 
Taken  I  desire  you  to  open  his  Letter,  &  procure  Payment 
of  the  Bills  there  Inclosed." 

To  John,  July  5:  — 

"Let  me  know  who  Receives  you  with  Respect.  Write 
me  how  the  World  goes  on  yt  Side  of  the  Water,  be  frugal 
of  Expences,  do  Honor  to  your  Country  &  furnish  Your 
Mind  with  all  wise  Improvements.  Keep  the  Pickpockets 
from  my  Watch.  God  bless  you  &  believe  me,  Your  Loving 
Uncle." 


In  London  71 

After  three  months  his  anxiety  was  over,  as 
Governor  Pownall  had  written  him  on  July  12 
of  their  arrival ;  to  whom  he  wrote  on  the  24th  of 
September :  — 

"I  have  great  Pleasure  in  hearing  of  your  Safe  Arrival  in 
England.  We  return  your  Excellency  many  Thanks  for 
your  great  Civilitys  to  Mr.  Hancock  he  writes  me  fully  of  it, 
&  gratefully  Acknowledges  your  many  favors  to  him.  I  am 
much  obliged  to  you  also." 

He  wrote  John  to  get 

"a  present  worth  2  or  3  guineas  for  Mrs.  Lydia  Bastide  in 
Mrs.  Hancock's  name,  with  her  love  to  her  &  our  compli 
ments  to  the  Family;  but  by  no  means  Lodge  there." 

Foreign  travel  and  residence  abroad  were  more 
common  in  the  years  of  colonial  dependence  than 
at  a  later  period  when  independent  citizens  of 
America  were  not  free  from  unpleasant  sentiments 
occasioned  by  separation  from  the  old  home.  Sons 
of  prosperous  families  saw  something  of  Oxford 
and  Cambridge  in  supplementing  their  education, 
and  other  sons  were  sent  on  business  errands  or 
for  informing  travel.  Packets  were  slower  than 
modern  steamers,  but  the  times  were  less  strenuous 
and  six  weeks  then  were  as  six  days  now. 

In  these  forty  days  the  young  man  would  not 
have  an  altogether  dreary  voyage,  and  he  certainly 
had  good  company,  since  his  uncle  had  been  able 
to  place  him  in  charge  of  Governor  Pownall,1  who, 

1  "  Governor  Pownall  was  treated  with  all  possible  respect 
when  he  embarked,  both  Houses  of  Legislature  accompanying 
him  to  his  barge."  —  "Thomas  Pownall,"  by  C.  A.  W.  Pownall, 
London,  1908,  p.  159. 


72  J°hn   Hancock 

on  his  return  home  after  three  years  of  strong  and 
discreet  service  in  the  Bay  Colony,  was  to  be  con 
tinued  in  office  as  lieutenant-governor  of  New 
Jersey  and  governor  of  South  Carolina,  all  to  be 
followed  by  a  distinguished  career  in  parliament, 
where  he  opposed  the  measures  of  the  government 
against  the  colonies.  In  such  a  man's  company 
the  young  American  had  an  opportunity  to  learn 
useful  things  about  the  land  which  colonists  still 
called  the  "old  home,"  and  it  is  easy  to  imagine 
that  social  advantages  were  made  available  to  the 
creditable  Bostonian  on  his  arrival  in  the  metrop 
olis.  As  to  other  features  of  the  voyage,  the 
drinks  would  be  better  than  the  meats,  and  reading 
might  be  as  heavy  as  the  copy  of  Erasmus  which 
Judge  Sewall  took  to  enliven  the  long  days  at  sea 
some  years  before. 

Arrived  in  London,  there  was  enough  to  interest 
an  American  in  a  city  of  650,000  inhabitants. 
The  Seven  Years'  War  was  over ;  an  empire  in  the 
East  had  been  won  at  Plassey,  and  another  in  the 
West  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham,  with  the  French 
driven  from  the  field  of  Minden,  and  their  fleet 
ruined  at  Quiberon  Bay.  Victory  had  followed  the 
English  flag  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe.  Old  Eu 
rope  was  passing  into  the  modern,  and  a  new  nation 
was  beginning  to  evolve  out  of  chaos  in  the  Ameri 
can  wilderness.  Just  then  it  was  Great  Britain's 
most  valuable  dependency,  and  the  nation,  supreme 
on  land  and  sea,  with  London  as  its  capital,  had 


In  London  73 

every  reason  to  congratulate  itself  in  the  year 
I760.1 

On  the  25th  of  October  the  king,  in  whose  reign 
so  much  had  been  accomplished,  fell  dead,  and  his 
grandson  succeeded  him  as  George  the  Third. 
At  the  funeral  John  Hancock  was  a  spectator  and 
saw  the  regal  display  in  the  day  of  England's 
supremacy.  He  could  look  upon  the  new  king  with 
whom  he  was  to  have  trouble  some  years  later, 
but  his  majesty  would  not  have  believed  that  a 
young  man  from  one  of  the  colonies  could  give 
him  annoyance  in  the  future  more  than  in  the  hour 
of  his  own  and  the  nation's  pride.  Nor  did  the 
provincial  himself  dream  of  such  a  possibility. 
Like  all  colonists  visiting  the  mother  country  he 
would  be  profuse  in  expressions  of  loyalty,  and  duly 
impressed  with  a  royal  pomp  which  the  present 
generation  has  witnessed  in  two  funeral  processions 
within  a  dozen  years. 

George  the  Second  had  ended  his  reign  with  honor 
to  himself  and  the  nation,  with  a  united  ministry 
and  an  empire  encircling  the  globe.  His  successor 
ascended  the  throne  under  more  favorable  cir 
cumstances  than  any  predecessor  of  the  house  had 
enjoyed.  With  his  birth  in  England  prejudice 
against  his  family  as  foreign  born  ceased.  He  had 
none  of  the  vices  which  strained  respect  for  royalty 

1  An  interesting  contemporary  account  of  the  capture  of  Quebec 
is  given  by  Chaplain  Cotton  in  a  letter  to  Grenville,  September  20, 
1759,  in  "Grenville  Correspondence,"  i,  325. 


74  J°hn  Hancock 

in  some  of  his  ancestors.  Parties  and  factions  had 
been  absorbed  in  a  general  harmony,  having  found 
a  leader  in  Pitt,  who  presided  over  the  councils 
of  the  nation  with  the  prestige  of  genius.  Further 
conquest  or  peace  was  within  the  choice  of  the 
new  king,  and  general  support  would  have  been 
accorded  any  measure  within  the  people's  power. 
It  was  high  noon  at  the  Court  of  St  James.  Horace 
Walpole  says  that  "a  passionate,  domineering 
woman,  and  a  favorite  without  talents  drew  a 
cloud  over  this  shining  prospect."  The  woman 
was  the  king's  mother,  who  had  never  ceased  to 
iterate  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  "Be  king,  George, 
be  king!"  The  favorite  was  the  Scotch  John 
Stuart,  third  Earl  of  Bute,  Groom  of  the  Stole, 
whom  his  royal  master  named  for  the  Cabinet 
at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Council.  And  the 
king's  first  speech  was  for  "a  bloody  and  expensive 
war  to  obtain  an  honorable  and  lasting  peace," 
the  stale  plea  of  barbarism.  It  took  twenty-four 
hours  of  appeal  by  Pitt,  Mansfield,  and  other  wise 
counsellors  before  the  royal  George  would  allow 
the  spoken  words  to  be  printed  for  public  reading 
in  the  softened  form  of  "an  expensive  but  just 
and  necessary  war,  and  an  honorable  peace  in 
concert  with  our  allies."  He  was  trying  to  observe 
his  mother's  command,  with  which  he  was  in  full 
sympathy.  Besides,  he  had  a  will  of  his  own,  an 
obstinacy  which  in  a  king  was  dignified  as  firmness. 
When  he  talked  of  royal  prerogative,  more  and  more 


In  London  75 

popular  jealousy  began  to  spring  up.  "No  petti 
coat  government,  no  Scotch  favorite"  was  placarded 
at  the  Royal  Exchange  and  at  Westminster  Hall. 
The  unwashed  mob  in  the  streets  and  theatres  made 
gross  and  insulting  remarks  to  and  about  George 
and  his  domineering  mother,  who  in  vain  pleaded  to 
be  declared  Princess  Mother,  a  title  for  which  there 
was  no  precedent,  although  it  was  deserved  by 
reason  of  her  son's  obsequiousness  to  her. 

It  would  be  strange  if  the  alert  American  did  not 
read  the  posters  and  hear  much  discussion  of  the 
new  king's  unpopular  subjection.  He  would  also 
learn  of  his  first  address  to  Parliament,  long  and  dull, 
written  by  Lord  Harwicke  and  amended  by  Pitt. 
He  would  hear  that  the  royal  revenue  had  been 
fixed  at  £800,000  a  year,  and  would  think  it  was  a 
liberal  allowance  to  a  king  who  travelled  little,  as 
£50,000  was  to  his  counselling  mother,  who  had 
obtained  £10,000  more  from  her  son  in  addition  to 
£4,000  from  her  Duchy  of  Cornwall,  although  she 
was  living  in  parsimonious  privacy,  and  succeeded 
in  keeping  her  son  almost  inaccessible.  As  for  the 
favorite,  Bute,  he  had  the  money  drawn  from  the 
Electorate  of  Hanover  entirely  under  his  direction. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  young  Bostonian 
had  so  much  concern  about  the  home  policy  and 
affairs  of  the  king  and  the  composition  of  his 
Cabinet  as  about  his  colonial  rule  and  the  advice 
of  his  ministers.  The  interference  of  his  predeces 
sors  had  been  so  slight  that  colonists  had  become 


76  J°hn  Hancock 

accustomed  to  practical  freedom  in  the  manage 
ment  of  their  affairs,  and  the  only  question  that 
would  disturb  the  American  would  be,  Will  this 
freedom  continue  under  the  new  regime?  At 
first,  however,  he  would  be  diverted  by  the  pageants 
and  processions  which  the  populace  witnessed  in  the 
year  of  his  sojourn  at  the  capital;  the  funeral  of 
the  second  George,  obsequies  which  were  repeated 
for  the  fourth  time  in  1910,  just  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years  later,  with  solemn  pomp  and  sincerer 
mourning. 

On  October  29,  1760,  he  wrote  his  step-father :  — 

"I  am  very  busy  in  getting  myself  mourning  upon  the 
Occasion  of  the  Death  of  his  late  Majesty  King  George  the 
2d,  to  which  every  person  of  any  Note  here  Conforms  even 
to  the  deepest  mourning.  .  .  .  Every  thing  here  is  now 
very  dull.  All  Plays  are  stopt  and  no  Diversions  are  going 
forward,  so  that  I  am  at  a  loss  how  to  dispose  of  myself. 
On  Sunday  last  the  Prince  of  Wales  was  proclaim 'd  King 
thro'  the  City  with  great  Pomp  and  Joy.  ...  I  am  not 
more  particular  in  the  Circumstances  of  the  King's  Death, 
as  I  imagine  you  will  have  the  Accounts  long  before  this 
Reaches  you." 

He  also  complains  to  his  step- father  that  he  has 
received  no  replies  to  several  letters  he  has  written 
him  and  adds:  — 

"I  much  long  to  hear  of  my  Mother,  has  she  her  health 
pray  write  me  particularly,  to  whom  present  my  most  Duti- 
full  Regards,  and  Acqaint  her  I  am  very  well  and  hope  to 
have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  her  by  next  June  or  sooner." 

His    brother    Ebenezer   evidently  treated    him 


In  London  77 

better,  as  on  the  2yth  of  December  he  wrote  in 
reply  to  a  letter  sent  seven  weeks  before :  — 

"I  have  before  me  your  agreeable  letter  of  November  6th 
by  Capt.  Bride,  and  desire  you  will  write  me  by  every  oppor 
tunity,  and  acquaint  me  more  particularly  with  the  Cir 
cumstances  of  my  Uncle's  Family.  I  am  Glad  to  hear  that 
you  are  well,  and  earnestly  beg  you  will  give  great  attention 
to  business  and  let  your  Conduct  be  such  as  to  merit  the 
Esteem  of  all  about  you,  and  remember  that  the  Diligent 
Hand  maketh  Rich.  I  Expect  on  my  Return  to  find  you 
a  Compleat  Merchant. 

"I  observed  by  your  letter  our  Sister  is  married,  and 
that  you  were  with  them  at  the  Celebration  of  it,  I  wish 
them  great  Happiness  and  satisfaction,  and  hope  they  will 
meet  with  nothing  to  Interrupt  their  Quiet,  they  have  my 
best  wishes.  .  .  . 

"I  have  lately  been  ill,  but  am  upon  the  Recovery,  hope 
soon  to  get  abroad  again. 

"Tell  Hannah  that  at  Mr.  Barnard's  where  I  am  ill,  is  a 
young  woman  who  is  Remarkably  Tender  and  Kind  to  me 
in  my  illness,  and  often  brings  her  to  my  mind;  that  I  am  as 
well  attended  to  as  I  could  ever  desire,  and  that  I  am  very 
well  off,  but  had  much  rather  be  ill,  if  I  must  be  so,  where 
my  Aunt  and  she  is,  But  that  this  young  woman  is  exactly 
the  Image  of  her  in  Respect  of  a  good  and  tender  Nurse."  l 

To  his  uncle  he  wrote  on  January  14,  1761,  a 
letter  which  shows  what  a  faithful  correspondent 
he  was,  saying  that  on  his  arrival  he  wrote  "by  the 
Packett"  and  since  by  thirteen  other  ships.  The 
uncertainty  of  letters  reaching  their  destination 
is  indicated  by  the  remark  :  — 

1  For  the  full  text  of  these  three  abridgments  see  "Mass.  Hist 
Soc.  Proceedings,"  XLIII,  193-200. 


78  John  Hancock 

"I  am  very  sorry  that  I  have  been  so  unlucky  in  Regard 
to  my  Letters  not  Reaching  you,  and  never  Intended  to  be 
Remiss  in  that  Respect,  and  should  you  Receive  all  my 
Letters  I  am  well  Satisfied  you  and  my  Aunt  will  not  Think 
me  Blameable." 

The  next  letter  is  largely  about  business  affairs  in 
Nova  Scotia,  with  a  note  of  personal  interest  toward 
the  end  of  it  as  follows :  — 

"I  observe  in  your  Letter  you  mention  a  Circumstance 
in  Regard  to  my  Dress.  I  hope  it  did  not  Arise  from  your 
hearing  I  was  too  Extravagant  that  way,  which  I  think  they 
can't  Tax  me  with.  At  same  time  I  am  not  Remarkable 
for  the  Plainess  of  my  Dress,  upon  proper  Occasions  I  dress 
as  Genteel  as  any  one,  and  can't  say  I  am  without  Lace. 
I  Endeavor  in  all  my  Conduct  not  to  Exceed  your  Expecta 
tions  in  Regard  to  my  Expences,  but  to  Appear  in  Charac 
ter  I  am  Obliged  to  be  pretty  Expensive.  I  find  Money 
some  way  or  other  goes  very  fast,  but  I  think  I  can  Reflect 
it  has  been  spent  with  Satisfaction  and  to  my  own  honour. 
I  fear  if  you  was  to  see  my  Tailor's  Bill,  you  would  think  I 
was  not  a  very  plain  Dressing  person.  I  endeavour  to  be 
in  Character  in  all  I  do,  and  in  all  my  Expences,  which  are 
pretty  large  I  have  great  Satisfaction  in  the  Reflection  of 
their  being  incurrd  in  Honorable  Company  and  to  my 
Advantage.  I  shall  be  mindfull  to  send  by  the  first  Oppor 
tunity  the  Mitts  for  my  Aunt  and  the  Shoes  for  you,  with 
a  Cane  if  I  can  meet  one  Suitable.  I  wish  to  hear  that  the 
Things  I  sent  for  you  and  my  Aunt  proved  Satisfactory. 
I  imagine  many  of  my  Letters  have  Reached  you  before 
this,  and  long  to  hear  from  you  on  the  Subject  of  my  Tarry 
here. 

"We  have  no  News.  Things  seem  very  quiet.  The 
King  is  very  popular  and  much  Beloved.  I  hear  he  has 
sent  a  Message  to  the  House  desiring  he  may  be  Enabled 


In  London  79 

to  Reimburse  the  Colonies  the  Expence  of  Raising  and 
Cloathing  the  Troops. 

11  As  I  had  but  one  hour's  Notice  of  this  Ship's  Sailing, 
and  must  beg  your  Excuse  for  the  ill  Connection  of  my 
Letter,  I  shall  write  you  very  particular  by  Capt  Ochterlony 
who  goes  for  York  next  week. 

"The  former  part  of  my  Letter  was  wrote  some  Time  ago, 
but  the  latter  in  great  haste,  as  the  Vessel  was  under  sail." 

The  winter  was  passing  into  spring,  and  the  lonely 
couple  on  Beacon  Hill  were  pining  for  Johnny, 
as  the  uncle  familiarly  calls  him.  He  is  having 
struggles  in  his  mind  whether  to  call  him  home  or 
allow  him  time  to  see  more  of  Great  Britain.  In 
one  of  his  letters  he  writes :  — 

"As  to  your  going  to  Scotland,  use  your  own  Prudence. 
I  want  you  much  if  it  can  be  done  without  loss  of  time  & 
without  great  expence.  I  fear  aunt  and  I  am  much  con 
cerned  for  you !  we  are  sorry  to  hear  that  you  have  been 
Confined,  she  longs  to  have  you  at  home  &  so  do  I,  and 
Indeed  I  want  you  much."  * 

It  was  the  nth  of  July,  however,  before  the 
following  letter  promised  his  departure:  — 

"HONORED  SIR, 

"  I  have  not  Time  as  I  am  Engag'd  in  preparing  for 
my  Voyage  to  write  a  long  Letter,  and  this  is  a  saving 
way,  that  I  can  only  Acquaint  you  I  long  since  Agreed 
with  Captain  Jacobson  for  a  passage,  and  Expected  by 
this  to  have  been  half  way  to  Boston,  but  unexpected  De 
tentions  have  Arisen,  both  with  Respect  to  want  of  Goods 

1  From  Manuscript  Letter  Book  in  the  possession  of  the  New 
England  Historic  and  Genealogical  Society. 


8o  John  Hancock 

and  Convoy,  however,  can  now  say  I  am  in  great  hopes  we 
shall  soon  sail,  she  falls  down  the  river  on  Tuesday,  and  I 
shall  set  out  for  Portsmouth  by  Land  on  Thursday,  and  if 
we  are  not  Detained  there  in  waiting  for  Convoy,  shall  in  a 
Week  be  on  our  Passage,  which  in  Compliance  with  your 
orders,  I  am  very  earnest  for,  and  my  assiduous  Endeavours 
have  not  been  wanting  to  get  a  Passage  sooner,  but  hope 
all's  for  the  best.  The  Difficulty  of  Transporting  Baggage 
from  hence  to  Falmouth  prevented  my  going  in  the  Packett 
to  York. 

"  You  will  please  to  present  my  most  Dutifull  Regards 
to  my  Dear  Aunt  Mrs.  Hinchman,  and  Respectfull  Compli 
ments  to  all  my  Friends,  with  whom  I  hope  to  be  soon. 

"My  Earnest  wishes  for  your  Health  and  Happiness, 
Concludes  me  in  great  haste,  with  the  utmost  Gratitude, 
Honored  Sir,  Your  most  obliged  and  most  Dutifull  Nephew. 

"My  Things  are  all  going  on  board  on  Monday."  l 

It  was  at  first  expected  that  the  coronation  would 
take  place  in  April,  of  which  Hancock  wrote,  "  It  is 
the  grandest  sight  I  shall  ever  meet  with."  But  it 
was  postponed  until  after  the  king's  marriage  to 
Charlotte  of  Mecklenburg-Strelitz,  whose  arrival 
stirred  the  curiosity  of  all  London  on  the  7th  of 
September.2  A  fortnight  later  the  whole  city  was 

1  "Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Proceedings,"  XLIII,  200. 

2  The  law  of  the  crown  naturalizing  a  foreign  princess  married 
to  the  King,  her  jointures  and  house  of  residence  is  stated  in  the 
"Grenville  Correspondence,"  n,  400.     As  to  the  question  about 
the  king's   preference   for   another  woman,  see  the   "Life  and 
Letters  of  Lady  Sarah  Lennox,"  2  vols.,  passim.    Walpole's  quill 
anticipated  the  fountain  pen  in  its  flow  of   court  gossip  for  the 
delectation  of  the  Earl  of  Stratford,  Hon.  Henry  Seymour,  Sir 
Horace  Mann,  and  others.    See  "Walpole's    Letters,"  p.  771, 
et  seq. 


In  London  81 

agog  over  the  coronation  procession,  to  see  which 
£2,400  was  paid  for  a  platform  outside  the  Abbey, 
and  more  inside,  while  the  throngs  in  the  street 
were  gaping  at  the  new  coach  costing  £8,000, 
gorgeous  with  tritons  and  palm  trees.  They  were 
not  so  much  concerned  with  appointments  to  this 
office  and  that,  as  that  Mr.  Grenville,  Secretary  of 
State,  and  Lord  Halifax  of  the  Admiralty  had  ex 
changed  places;  that  Fox  was  technically  leader 
of  the  House  of  Commons  for  the  king,  and  Pitt, 
ousted  by  the  favorite  Bute's  influence  from  the 
Secretaryship  of  State  was  the  tribune  of  the  people 
in  the  House  and  chief  orator  of  the  nation.  The 
mob,  sometimes  called  the  Third  House  of  Parlia 
ment,  cared  less  for  the  disputes  of  Lords  Rocking- 
ham,  Pembroke,  and  Holderness  than  to  see  the 
three  Cherokee  chiefs  from  South  Carolina,  on  a 
vacation  trip  to  London,  a  sight  that  was  not  un 
familiar  to  a  New  Englander,  except  in  the  pattern 
of  their  war-paint.  Nor  would  the  tax-paying 
traders  of  the  city  bewail  the  peace  with  Spain 
so  much  as  Pitt,  whose  determination  to  weaken 
Bourbon  hopes  and  to  strengthen  England  was 
upset,  to  the  later  sorrow  of  king  and  minister. 
The  people  could  not  see  beyond  increased  tax 
rates  the  greater  glory.  Much  more  evident  to 
them  was  the  temper  of  the  greatest  mob  that 
London  had  seen  for  forty  years  when  a  copy  of  the 
scurrilous  John  Wilkes's  " North  Briton"  was  or 
dered  to  be  burnt  by  the  hangman,  because  it  had 


8  2  John  Hancock 

accused  the  king  of  falsehood;  with  which  charge 
mud-slingers  had  unseemly  sympathy ;  also  people 
as  high  up  as  the  mayor  and  magistrates  of  the 
city,  so  unpopular  had  the  Bute  ministry  become.1 
Wilkes,  too,  failed  to  reap  the  reward  of  his  services 
in  reformatory  directions  through  the  folly  of 
writing  his  "Essay  on  Woman,"  which  would  have 
been  the  scandal  of  the  town,  as  it  was  of  Parlia 
ment,  if  its  dozen  copies  had  not  been  suppressed 
and  the  author  disgraced.  There  were  lesser  sub 
jects  of  gossip  that  interested  the  newsmongering 
court  and  seeped  down  through  several  layers  of 
the  society  which  then  existed,  to  explode  finally  in 
effigy,  bonfire,  and  riot  when  the  lowest  stratum  was 
reached. 

For  an  educated  and  observing  man  from  the 
principal  town  of  New  England  one  object  of  inter 
est  would  be  the  statesman  to  whom  more  than 
any  other  was  due  the  honor  of  England's  unexam 
pled  prosperity.  William  Pitt,  before  he  became 
Earl  of  Chatham,  towered  above  lords  and  lord- 
lings,  politicians  and  courtiers,  and  the  Georges 
themselves,  with  all  the  stage  company  which 
acted  the  drama  of  which  he  alone  was  protagonist. 
Educated  in  the  classic  methods  that  marked  the 
revival  of  oratory,  he  entered  Parliament  at  the 
age  of  twenty-six.  Within  a  year  he  was  recognized 

1For  an  account  of  the  Forty-fifth  Number  of  the  "North 
Briton"  see  Walpole's  "Memoirs  of  George  Third's  Reign,"  chap 
ter  XIX. 


In  London  83 

as  the  champion  of  the  middle  classes  now  rising 
into  importance.  With  matchless  eloquence  he 
opposed  the  Hanoverian  policy  of  George  the 
Second  and  afterwards  the  entire  ministry,  despite 
which  the  king  was  compelled,  after  trying  others, 
to  transfer  the  government  to  him  as  the  ablest 
man  in  the  realm.  The  Great  Commoner  became 
Prime  Minister  in  1756.  Unseated  within  a  year, 
and  recalled  by  the  people's  demand,  he  began  a 
career  which  raised  England  from  its  insular  limi 
tations  and  the  brink  of  ruin  to  supremacy  among 
the  nations.  In  Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  and  America 
victory  followed  victory  over  France,  the  ubiquitous 
foe,  and  the  nation  was  in  sight  of  the  mountain- 
top  of  military  glory.  Then  the  jealousy,  ob 
stinacy,  and  folly  of  the  king  and  his  minister  Bute 
let  the  triumphal  car  go  backward  with  consequent 
losses  to  the  new  empire,  of  which  the  American 
colonies  were  the  first. 

It  was  a  piece  of  the  good  fortune  that  commonly 
attended  John  Hancock  that  he  should  be  in 
London  during  the  apical  year  of  Pitt's  ascendency. 
Associating  with  the  tradesmen  of  the  city,  he  heard 
their  praises  of  the  man  who  was  lifting  them  into 
new  and  unwonted  importance.  He  would  have 
been  the  dullard  that  he  was  not  if  he  did  not  hear 
the  first  and  greatest  orator  of  an  eloquent  group  in 
some  of  his  celebrated  speeches,  like  that  one  on  the 
excise  bill  with  its  defence  of  the  poor  man's  house 
as  his  castle,  which  the  storm  might  enter  but  not 


84  J°hn  Hancock 

the  king  himself,  unbidden.  From  this  attempt 
of  Bute's  to  tax  the  people  of  England,  against 
which  Pitt  was  arguing,  it  was  but  a  step  to  the  pro 
posal  to  make  the  colonies  help  pay  the  cost  of 
all  the  new  possessions.  British  merchants  who 
had  urged  Pitt  to  take  double  the  loans  he  asked 
refused  his  successor  their  contributions.  If  they 
had  any  sympathy  with  taxing  Americans  they  did 
not  show  it  by  willingness  to  be  taxed  themselves, 
nor  could  they  expect  fellow-subjects  three  thousand 
miles  away  to  surpass  themselves  in  loyalty  to  a 
government  that  had  weakly  let  its  grand  oppor 
tunity  slip  away.  Nor  could  some  of  its  statesmen 
blame  Americans  later  for  opinions  rife  among 
the  people  of  England.1 

In  the  absence  of  any  written  record  of  what  young 
Hancock  saw  beyond  the  king  and  court  —  at  which 
there  is  a  tradition  that  he  was  presented,  and  that 
he  received  a  snuff-box  from  his  majesty  —  it  is 
fair  to  suppose  that  there  were  few  events  of  im 
portance  in  the  year  of  his  stay  in  which  he  had 
not  sufficient  interest  to  go  as  far  out  of  his  way  to 
observe  as  the  average  Londoner.2  Moreover, 
there  were  questions  intimately  affecting  the  com 
mercial  relations  between  two  countries  about  which 

1  Other  defenders  of  the  colonists  were  Burke,  Fox,  Pownall, 
Rose  Fuller,  Admiral  Byng,  and  some  of  less  note. 

2  In  the  book  world  "Tristam  Shandy,"  published  in  April  and 
commended  by  Bishop  Warburton,  was  the  talk  of  the  town  in 
1760.    The  first  of  "Ossian's  Poems"  were  issued  in  July  of  that 
year. 


In  London  85 

he  was  sent  abroad  to  inform  himself  for  the  benefit 
of  the  firm  of  which  he  was  to  become  a  member  on 
his  return.  And  although  his  loyalty  might  be 
strengthened  rather  than  diminished  by  his  resi 
dence  in  the  capital,  he  would  discover  a  spirit 
of  free  criticism  there  which  might  surprise  the 
citizens  of  provincial  Boston,  and  encourage  their 
protests  against  taxation  and  make  less  obsequious 
their  professions  of  devotion.  At  all  events  he  must 
have  had  an  inside  view  of  the  situation  before  he 
sailed  for  home  —  which  may  help  explain  what 
has  seemed  to  some  an  unaccountable  conversion 
on  his  part  from  sentiments  that  prevailed  among 
the  aristocracy  of  Boston  for  the  next  ten  years. 
At  least  he  could  not  have  come  home  with  un 
bounded  confidence  in  the  policy  of  George  the 
Third  and  his  advisers.1  Nor  had  his  stay  in 
London  diminished  his  regard  for  the  contrasting 
character  of  his  native  country.  In  a  letter  to 
his  step-father  he  wrote  in  the  spring  of  1761 :  — 

"I  shall  with  satisfaction  bid  adieu  to  this  grand  place 
with  all  its  pleasurable  enjoyments  and  tempting  scenes 
for  more  substantial  pleasure  which  I  promise  myself  in  the 
enjoyment  of  my  friends  in  America." 

1  The  inherited  impression  regarding  George  III,  gathered  from 
ballads,  revolutionary  documents,  and  early  histories,  will  be  modi 
fied  by  such  recent  historical  works  as  Rose's  "William  Pitt  and 
National  Revival,"  Fortescue's  "British  Statesmen  of  the  Great 
War,"  Trevelyan's  "George  III  and  Charles  Fox,"  in  which  the 
King's  faults  and  his  virtues  are  sanely  dealt  with. 


CHAPTER  VI 

BACK  TO  BOSTON 

BEFORE  the  lyth  of  October,  1761,  Hancock  had 
returned  to  his  home  and  uncle,  as  mentioned  in  a 
note  of  the  latter  of  the  above  date  written  to  Jona 
than  Barnard  of  London,  one  of  his  agents  and  a  gov 
ernor  of  the  Magdalen  Charity.  It  gives  a  hint  of 
the  writer's  benevolence  and  of  the  reading  which 
interested  a  Boston  merchant  at  that  time. 

"DEAR  SIR:  At  my  Return  from  Church,  I  found  on  the 
Table  the  Rev'd  Mr.  Dodd's  Excellent  Sermon,  preached 
at  the  Anniversary  Meeting  of  the  Governors  of  the  Magda 
len  Charity,  in  March  last,  Which  my  Nephew  had  Just 
Receiv'd.  I  read  it  with  great  pleasure.  .  .  .  and  Desire 
that  you  will  please  to  pay  out  of  the  first  money  you  may 
Receive  from  me,  Seventy  Guineas,  my  subscription  to  the 
Magdalen  Charity  &  charge  to  my  Account." 

The  gift  shows  the  relationship  which  a  large- 
minded  merchant  recognized  as  existing  between 
loyal  colonists  and  the  home  city,  as  it  was  still  con 
sidered  by  subjects  of  the  crown.  Their  charities 
were  nearer  than  those  in  the  far  East,  and  a  worthy 
cause  in  London  appealed  to  them  with  the  interest 
of  home  missions. 

One  year  from  the  first  of  January  following  his 


Back  to  Boston  87 

return  the  nephew  was  admitted  to  copartner 
ship  with  his  uncle.  Notice  of  this  transaction  was 
sent  to  his  British  agents  in  the  letter  of  the  same 
day. 

"BOSTON,  January  ist,  1763. 

1  "GENT'N  :  I  am  to  acquaint  you  that  I  have  at  last  Got 
my  affairs  into  such  a  Scituation,  as  that  I  have  this  Day 
Taken  my  Nephew  Mr.  John  Hancock,  into  Partnership 
with  me,  having  had  long  Experience  of  his  Uprightness  & 
great  Abilities  for  Business,  as  that  I  can  heartily  Recom 
mend  him  to  Your  Friendship  and  Correspondence,  which 
wish  may  be  long  &  happy.  .  .  .  Goods  I  have  wrote  for, 
be  Charged  to  Thomas  Hancock  &  Company.  .  .  . 

"I  wish  You  the  Compliments  of  the  Season,  &  am  with 
much  Respect 

"Your  most  Obed't  Serv't 

"THOMAS  HANCOCK."  1 

It  is  desirable  to  observe  the  commercial  and 
political  conditions  which  prevailed  when  the 
junior  member  found  himself  in  the  new  and  re 
sponsible  position  of  partner  in  a  firm  of  which  a 
large  warehouse  and  several  smaller  stores  were 
the  signs  on  land,  and  half  a  dozen  ships  on  the 
sea.  Restricted  by  British  enactments  from  manu 
facturing,  and  their  farming  unprofitable,  enter 
prising  New  Englanders  resorted  to  trade  in  fish, 
fur,  lumber,  oil,  and  rum,  with  an  incidental 
carrying-business  that  made  the  successful  rich 
according  to  the  standards  of  the  period.  Letters 
to  London  agents  in  1763  reveal  particulars  of  the 

facsimile  in  A.  E.  Brown's  "J°nri  Hancock,  His  [Letter] 
Book/'  p.  14. 


88  John  Hancock 

Hancocks'  commercial  affairs,  as  when  on  May  6 
they  write :  — 

"We  desire  you  will  please  ship  us  Fifteen  or  Twenty 
Tons  of  best  Petersburg  Brack  Hemp.  This  we  want  for 
whale  Warps  &  must  be  of  the  very  best  quality." 

On  June  7  their  agency  in  building  a  small 
vessel  for  the  London  trade  is  seen :  — 

"To  be  a  ship  of  160  Tons  &  think  to  call  her  the  'Boston 
Packett,'  to  be  Launched  by  the  middle  of  September, 
every  thing  to  be  done  in  the  best  manner.  ...  A  prime 
going  ship,  handsome  and  to  carry  well,  plain  but  neat  for 
the  London  trade." 

With  the  primeval  forests  not  far  away  it  seems 
strange  that  the  Hancocks  imported  sea  coal  from 
England,  but  its  flame  was  considered  a  luxury  in 
fashionable  houses,  although  the  firm  expresses 
regret  to  Mr.  Benj.  Birkbeck  that  "  Coals  fetch 
no  better  price,  the  town  being  well  supplied."  To 
London  they  soon  after  send  "119  casks  of  sperm 
oil,  172  of  whale  oil,  white  and  sweet,  far  pref 
erable  to  what  is  commonly  at  your  market, 
and  you  may  recommend  it  as  such.  The  cost 
is  £1436.  14.  4  lawful  money." 

Cargoes  were  mixed  then  as  now,  and  with  orders 
for  coals,  pork,  and  butter  went  this  :  — 

"Our  J.  H.  asks  the  favor  that  Mr.  Harrison  will  please 
get  made  and  send  him  i  neatt  Bag  wig  &  i  neatt  Bob  wig. 
Fashionable  &  of  a  light  color.  .  .  .  The  cost  of  them  he 
will  charge  in  his  little  acc'tt  with  J.  H." 

This  is  only  a  fraction  of  the  entire  outfit  of 
nephew  John,  who  was  probably  the  best  dressed 


Back  to  Boston  89 

young  man  in  Boston.  His  taste  was  correct, 
his  judgment  of  quality  unsurpassed,  and  his 
knowledge  of  fashions  in  London  aided  by  recent 
residence  there.  A  gold-laced  coat  of  broadcloth, 
red,  blue,  or  violet,  a  white  satin  waist-coat, 
embroidered ;  velvet  breeches,  green,  lilac,  blue  or 
some  other  harmonious  color ;  white  silk  stockings, 
and  shoes  flashing  with  buckles  of  silver  or  gold; 
linen  trimmed  with  lace,  made  the  prosperous  young 
merchant  outshine  the  more  dignified  but  equally 
rich  costume  of  his  opulent  senior,  and  helped  to 
illumine  the  streets  of  Boston  in  an  age  which  was 
putting  off  the  sombre  tints  of  the  Puritan  period. 
Other  luxuries  are  disclosed  in  lading  bills  and 
orders,  as  in  July,  1764:  "  Please  send  an  Eider 
down  Quilt,  a  good  one,  about  9  or  10  guineas  value, 
as  it  is  for  our  T.  H.'s  own  use  in  the  Gout.  .  .  . 
and  Ten  Groce  of  best  Quart  Champaigne  Bottles, 
for  our  own  use."  The  connection  between  these 
articles  is  close  and  logical ;  for  it  was  not  the  first 
order  of  champagne  and  kindred  spirits,  and  ex 
plains  an  event  which  followed  in  less  than  a 
month  when  Thomas  Hancock,  on  August  i,  1764, 
died  of  apoplexy,  leaving  £10,000,  his  mansion  and 
upland  acres  to  his  widow,  and  to  his  nephew  his 
warehouses,  ships,  and  the  residue  of  his  estate.1 

1  The  voluminous  will  of  Thomas  Hancock,  dated  March  5, 
1763,  giving  "all  the  Residue  of  my  whole  Estate  real,  personal,  or 
mixed  to  my  nephew  John  Hancock  to  dispose  of  as  he  thinks 
proper,"  etc.,  is  the  "Chamberlain  MS.,"  No.  233,  Boston  Public 
Library. 


90  J°hn  Hancock 

It  remained  only  to  order  a  funeral  in  keeping  with 
his  commercial  consequence  and  his  social  position. 
His  escutcheon  was  displayed  over  the  balconied 
entrance  to  his  house,  the  rooms  were  darkened, 
mourning  gloves  and  rings  were  distributed,  the 
deceased  was  eulogized,  and  the  procession  honored 
by  fellow  dignitaries  in  the  town  and  province.  A 
distinguished  citizen,  successful,  benevolent,  and 
respected  had  departed;  but  his  wisdom  had 
provided  for  the  continuance  of  his  business,  and 
that  the  stately  home  should  remain  in  the  family. 
The  widow  was  still  its  mistress,  a  woman  with 
clear  notions  of  what  belonged  to  her  condition 
and  place,  with  a  distinct  matrimonial  purpose 
for  her  desirable  nephew  amidst  the  allurements 
and  schemes  of  the  large  circle  in  which  he  was 
a  most  conspicuous  and  available  person. 

At  present,  however,  his  business  affairs  were 
uppermost.  Values  amounting  to  seventy  thou 
sand  pounds  sterling  had  been  left  him  with  the 
responsibility  of  an  extensive  import  and  export 
trade  at  a  time  when  embarrassments  were  multi 
plying.1  He  addressed  himself  at  once  to  its  details, 
writing  his  London  agents  within  a  fortnight  that  he 

1  "Hancock  was  made  neither  giddy,  arrogant,  nor  profligate  by 
his  inheritance,  but  continued  in  regularity,  industry,  and  mod 
eration.  Great  numbers  of  people  received  employment  at  his 
hands,  and  in  all  his  commercial  transactions  he  exhibited  a  fair 
and  liberal  character.  He  had  a  knowledge  of  business,  facility 
in  despatching  it,  and  a  ready  insight  into  the  characters  of  men," 
—  Tudor's  "Life  of  Otis,"  pp.  262,  267. 


Back  to  Boston  91 

proposes  "to  carry  on  the  business,  as  with  my  late 
uncle,  by  myself,  of  which  I  shall  write  you  more 
hereafter,"  notifying  them  at  the  same  time  of  a 
shipment  of  potashes,  enclosing  a  custom-house 
certificate  of  several  cargoes  of  oil  and  whalebone, 
congratulating  himself  that  he  can  have  what  oil 
he  pleases  of  the  best  men  in  Nantucket,  and  that 
the  plan  sundry  parties  had  of  engrossing  the 
whole  oil  trade  would  not  be  effectual,  since  he  had 
determined  to  increase  rather  than  lessen  his  con 
cern  in  it,  "which  of  course  takes  from  the  other 

Channell  and  is  very  discouraging  to  Mr.  R , 

but  he  knows  my  mind." 

Substituting  whale  oil  for  petroleum,  there  is  a 
suggestive  anticipation  of  large  transactions  and  a 
control  of  the  market  which  took  place  a  century 
and  a  quarter  later ;  and  a  reminder  also  that  there 
was  a  kingly  freedom  in  orthography  in  a  day  when 
every  one  did  what  was  right  and  convenient 
in  his  own  eyes  in  writing;  also  in  the  arbitrary 
use  of  capitals  a  hundred  years  before  Thomas 
Carlyle.  All  this  was  permissible  in  a  gentleman 
who  was  beginning  to  be  called  King  Hancock, 
as  his  grandfather  was  called  Bishop.  Sometimes 
he  falls  into  another  royal  habit  of  employing 
the  plural  We:  "We  shall  be  glad  You  will  be 
Explicit  in  Your  opinion  respecting  Oyl  &  whether 
You  would  chuse  a  Concern  in  more  than  what  will 
load  the  Ship  and  Brig."  In  the  complicated 
methods  of  exchange  by  way  of  London  he  did 


92  John  Hancock 

an  extensive  banking  business,  drawing  upon  his 
agents  in  favor  of  names  then  and  now  prominent 
in  Boston  affairs,  —  Amory,  Abbott,  Eliot,  Gray, 
Apple  ton,  and  others. 

He  does  not  hesitate  to  call  his  agents  to  account 
when  they  neglect  his  interests,  writing  to  Barnard 
and  Harrison  of  Size  Lane :  — 

"I  was  greatly  disappointed  in  not  having  all  the  things 
wrote  for.  I  beg  you  would  at  all  times  be  careful  to  send 
my  Goods  at  the  first  opp'y,  as  it  makes  great  odds  in  the 
sale,  I  am  at  a  Loss  to  account  why  my  Hemp  &  Beer  &  many 
other  things  should  be  omitted  in  my  own  ship  &  others 
have  the  preference,  which  is  certainly  now  the  case  &  I  must 
insist  upon  it  that  in  the  future  none  of  my  goods  be  turned 
aside  for  any  others.  You  may  have  reasons  for  this,  but 
to  me  it  appears  pretty  extraordinary." 

He  is  equally  insistent  with  debtors  at  home,  as  in 
this  advertisement :  — 

"Store  No.  4,  at  east  end  of  Faneuil  Hall  Market,  a  general 
assortment  of  English  and  East  India  Goods,  also  choice 
Newcastle  Coals,  and  Irish  Butter,  cheap  for  Cash.  Said 
Hancock  desires  those  persons  who  are  still  indebted  to  the 
estate  of  the  late  Thomas  Hancock,  Esq.,  deceased,  to  be 
speedy  in  paying  their  respective  balances  to  prevent 
trouble."  * 

When  John  Hancock  reached  home  in  1761  he 
found  that  colonial  sentiment  had  changed  in 
his  absence.  The  policy  of  the  new  king  had  been 

1  "On  land  reclaimed  from  the  dock,  and  near  the  head  of  the 
present  South  Market  Street,  John  Hancock  kept  store,  and  by 
advertisement  called  upon  debtors  to  the  estate  of  his  late  uncle, 
the  Hon.  Thomas  Hancock,  to  make  payment."  —  Justin  Winsor's 
"  Memorial  History  of  Boston,"  Introduction  to  Vol.  II,  p.  xx. 


Back  to  Boston  93 

closely  watched,  and  it  was  beginning  to  show 
results  among  people  who  had  been  encouraged  to 
think  and  act  for  themselves  far  more  than  native 
Englishmen.  Dissenters  and  radicals  had  been 
driven  and  baited  to  these  shores,  or  cast  out  like 
weeds  only  to  take  root  in  virgin  soil.  Great 
laxity  was  shown  by  the  crown,  and  many  privileges 
were  granted  to  the  Ishmaelites  in  the  wilderness. 
When  a  time  came  to  govern  them  and  profit  by 
them  they  displayed  the  unruly  temper  of  children 
that  have  been  allowed  to  run  wild.  The  first 
show  of  restraint  stirred  a  resentful  spirit  of  inde 
pendence.  It  had  been  the  fortune  of  Hancock  in 
London  to  observe  the  sudden  and  serious  turning 
of  attention  by  the  British  ministry  to  their  pros 
perous  dependencies  here  when  it  was  proposed 
to  draw  upon  them  for  the  expense  of  repulsing 
their  French  neighbors  along  the  Canadian  border. 
Upon  the  face  of  it  taxing  the  provinces  seemed 
nothing  more  than  a  fair  demand  for  benefits 
secured  at  great  cost.  In  England,  and  to  some 
in  America,  refusal  appeared  like  repudiation. 
But  provincials  had  their  heads  upon  the  future 
rather  than  the  past,  and  the  colonies  were  already 
republics  so  far  as  proverbial  ingratitude  could 
make  them,  —  at  least  this  was  sufficient  to  promise 
little  toward  reducing  the  national  debt,  a  part  of 
which  had  been  incurred  in  the  colonies'  behalf. 
Moreover,  just  as  the  king  was  ready  to  empha 
size  their  membership  in  the  new  empire  they  had 


94  J°hn  Hancock 

begun  to  think  about  the  possibility  of  a  separate 
nationality  of  their  own.1  It  needed  only  an  acid 
to  precipitate  what  was  held  in  unseen?  solution, 
and  to  make  men  speak  out  what  was  in  their 
minds. 

This  occurred  when  Parliament  resolved  upon 
imposing  " certain  stamp  duties"  in  March,  1764. 
It  was  a  year  later  when  Grenville  secured  the 
passage  of  the  act;  but  the  storm  of  wrath  that 
then  burst  had  been  gathering  in  twelve  months  of 
anticipation.  It  was  not  considered  a  tyrannical 
measure  in  England,  any  more  than  the  receipt  of  a 
son's  wages  during  his  minority.  But  the  carrying 
trade  of  Massachusetts  in  particular  had  been 
interfered  with  for  years,  incidentally  making 
traders  smugglers.  The  Stamp  Act  could  not  be 
so  easily  evaded  as  trade  restrictions  had  been. 
Therefore  the  dispute  was  shifted  to  the  claim 
that  Parliament  had  no  right  to  tax  a  people  who 
were  not  represented  in  that  legislative  body  by 
persons  elected  by  the  taxed.  This  was  a  new 
doctrine  in  a  country  where  a  county  or  a  borough 
might  be  represented  by  a  non-resident,  appointed 
perhaps  by  a  single  land-owner.  Another  method 
had  grown  up  here,  where  all  freemen  were  repre- 

1  As  early  as  1643  the  New  England  Confederation  must  have 
suggested  to  the  colonists  the  possibility  of  a  future  union,  a  cen 
tury  and  a  quarter  before  it  became  a  reality.  Penn's  scheme  of  a 
Biennial  Congress  followed  in  1690,  and  Davenant's,  Coxe's,  and 
Franklin's  proposals  and  plans  were  successive  expressions  of  the 
same  thought  of  association. 


Back  to  Boston  95 

sented  in  assembly  by  the  choice  of  the  majority, 
and  they  demanded  that  the  traditions  of  the 
mother  country  be  displaced  by  the  new  order,  in 
their  case  at  least.  Furthermore  they  insisted 
that  the  Colonial  Assembly,  and  not  Parliament, 
should  govern  them.  On  these  terms  they  were 
willing  to  preserve  a  federal  union  with  Great 
Britain.  Each  party  insisted  on  its  view  of  these 
two  questions,  from  the  standpoint  of  different 
traditions,  and  with  varying  opinions  as  to  how 
far  the  colonist  was  a  British  subject  in  every 
respect  like  the  Englishman  at  home. 

Thus  as  early  as  1763  provincials  of  advanced 
views  began  to  entertain  ambitious  thoughts,  and 
to  struggle  between  loyalty  to  the  crown  and  the 
desire  for  independence.  If  they  had  a  wild 
dream  of  armed  resistance  to  British  demands  so 
early,  they  became  confident  when  they  remembered 
what  the  regulars  had  taught  them  in  the  French 
and  Indian  war,  with  contemptuous  airs  of  supe 
riority,  and  that  provincial  troops  did  yeoman 
service  then,  even  showing  red-coats  a  trick  or 
two,  as  at  Braddock's  defeat.  With  France 
no  longer  hanging  like  a  menacing  cloud  upon  the 
northwestern  border,  Americans  could  face  about 
toward  the  sea  if  hostile  ships  should  appear.  It 
was  well  known  that  England  had  regarded  the 
French  in  Canada  as  a  restrictive  power  in  keeping 
the  expanding  colonies  from  too  rapid  growth, 
and  as  a  salutary  check  upon  their  ambitions. 


96  John  Hancock 

With  this  barrier  removed,  apprehensions  of 
colonial  expansion  were  renewed  in  England.  As 
far  back  as  1748  a  traveller  was  told  that  the  colo 
nists  had  increased  so  much  in  numbers  and  riches 
that  in  thirty  or  forty  years  they  would  be  able 
to  form  a  state  by  themselves  entirely  independent 
of  the  mother  country. 

The  greatest  obstacle  to  this,  inspiring  hope  in 
the  British  Government  and  in  loyal  hearts  here, 
was  the  antagonism  between  the  twelve  indepen 
dencies  along  the  coast.  They  were  isolated  froin. 
one  another  by  distance,  difficulty  of  communica 
tion,  differences  in  religion  and  politics,  and  by  the 
prejudice  and  hatred  which  naturally  followed. 
Even  so  near  neighbors  as  Massachusetts  and 
Rhode  Island  were  as  Philistia  and  Edom  to  each 
other.  The  general  admission  of  estrangement, 
and  spasmodic  movements  toward  some  sort  of 
alliance,  from  the  New  England  Confederation  of 
1643  onward  for  a  hundred  years  to  the  Albany 
Convention  of  1754,  had  ended  in  nothing  beyond 
a  feeble  groping  toward  crystallization,  with  no 
organic  growth  toward  unity.  Still,  the  desirability 
of  federation  was  a  growing  thought  in  some  minds. 
A  pressure  from  outside  was  needed,  stronger  than 
internal  jealousies,  dissensions,  and  repugnancies, 
to  weld  the  provinces  into  unity.  When  this  came 
with  the  third  George's  coercive  demand  for  tribute, 
the  idea  of  drawing  together  for  its  refusal  gained 
converts_every  day. 


Back  to  Boston  97 

These  topics  of  union  for  independence  Hancock 
had  heard  mentioned  before  he  went  to  London,  but 
only  by  such  radicals  as  John  Adams,  the  school 
teacher  who  had  declared  in  1755  that  "the  only 
way  to  keep  us  from  setting  up  for  ourselves  is  to 
disunite  us."  French  writers  for  thirty  years  had 
been  predicting  the  loss  to  Britain  of  her  colonies ; 
and  some  Americans  were  not  unwilling  to  accept 
their  prophecies  and  to  note  the  signs  that  were  to 
precede  the  event,  particularly  the  conquest 
of  Canada.  But  to  speak  openly  of  separation  was, 
before  1760,  like  talking  of  secession  before  1860. 

As  for  English  prophecy,  Mr.  Pratt,  afterward 
Lord  Camden,  is  reported  to  have  said  in  conver 
sation  with  Franklin  in  1759:  "For  all  that  you 
Americans  say  of  your  loyalty,  I  know  you  will 
one  day  throw  off  your  dependence  upon  this 
country,  and,  notwithstanding  your  boasted  affec 
tion  for  it,  will  set  up  for  independence."  George 
Chalmers,  author  of  the  "Political  Annals  of  the 
United  Colonies,"  intimated  that  there  were 
"most  satisfactory  proofs,  from  1688,  of  the  settled 
purpose  of  the  colonies  to  acquire  independence." 
It  might  be  answered  that  if  such  predictions  were 
common  in  England,  Americans  would  have  been 
encouraged  to  entertain  thoughts  of  separation 
earlier  than  they  did  to  any  extent.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  difficult  to  credit  Franklin's 
reply  to  Lord  Chatham  as  late  as  August,  1774, 
that  he  "never  had  heard  from  any  person,  drunk 


98  J°hn  Hancock 

or  sober,  the  least  expression  of  a  wish  for  a  separa 
tion  or  hint  that  it  would  be  advantageous  to 
America."  Perhaps  his  long  residence  abroad 
did  not  permit  him  to  hear  mutterings  along  the 
coast  from  Maine  to  Georgia.  Yet  a  similar 
dullness  of  hearing  seems  to  have  affected  John 
Adams,  Jay,  Madison,  Jefferson,  and  Washington, 
who  all  made  similar  avowals  just  before  the  war 
broke  out.  And  Americans  generally  were  care 
ful  to  maintain  that  concessions  from  the  crown 
were  what  was  demanded  and  desired,  not  inde 
pendence;  which  on  this  supposition  was  an  in 
direct  sequence  of  the  strife,  not  its  purpose,  as 
in  the  instance  of  slave  emancipation  ninety  years 
later. 

The  apparent  inconsistency  may  be  explained  by 
the  colonists'  desire  not  to  fail  in  every  expression 
of  loyalty,  while  acting  with  the  independence  in 
which  they  had  been  allowed  to  grow  up.  Ex 
asperated  by  this  discarding  of  authority"  as  in 
the  matter  of  its  trade  laws,  the  mother  country 
would  be  provoked  to  take  the  initiative  by  sending 
troops,  and  thus  incur  the  blame  of  beginning  the 
quarrel.  It  does  not  appear  that  the  British 
government  or  people  placed  much  value  on  pro 
fessions  of  loyalty  from  the  colonies ;  and  these  in 
turn  had  no  difficulty  in  interpreting  replies  that 
were  sent  back  undisguised  by  any  circumlocutions 
of  diplomacy. 


CHAPTER  VII 

GROWTH  OF  HANCOCK'S  PATRIOTISM 

FOR  three  years  after  his  return  from  London 
Hancock  appears  to  have  been  chiefly  concerned 
with  the  commercial  affairs  of  the  firm.  His 
uncle  as  the  head  of  it  naturally  overshadowed 
him,  and  being  a  staunch  loyalist  would  not  en 
courage  radical  sentiments  in  the  junior  partner. 
When  restraint  was  removed  by  death  and  the 
nephew  was  his  own  man,  indications  begin  to 
appear  of  departure  from  the  traditions  of  the  family, 
which  must  have  given  uneasiness  to  the  widow  in 
her  reminiscent  life  at  the  mansion.  He  had  been 
conducting  business  alone  for  six  months  when, 
in  the  midst  of  correspondence  with  his  London 
agents,  he  gave  the  first  intimation  of  disquiet  at 
the  depression  which  followed  the  burdensome  laws 
of  trade :  — 

"Times  are  very  precarious  here;  you  must  make  the 
most  of  your  remittances  as  Money  is  Extremely  Scarce 
&  trade  very  dull.  If  we  are  not  relieved  at  home  [England] 
we  must  live  upon  our  own  produce  and  manufactures.  We 
are  terribly  burthen'd,  our  Trade  will  decay,  we  are  really 
worth  a  Saving."  * 

1  For  the  entire  letter  of  February  7,  1765,  with  facsimile  of  a 
part  of  it,  and  the  following  extracts  in  this  chapter  see  "His  Let 
ter  Book,"  pp.  63  ff. 


ioo  John  Hancock 

Three  months  later,  March  22,  1765,  the  Stamp 
Act  was  passed,  but  the  tidings  had  not  reached 
Boston  when  he  wrote  early  in  April :  — 

"I  hear  the  stamp  act  is  like  to  take  place,  it  is  very 
cruel,  we  were  before  much  burthened,  we  shall  not  be  able 
much  longer  to  support  trade,  and  in  the  end  Great  Britain 
must  feel  the  ill  effects  of  it.  I  wonder  the  merchants  & 
friends  to  America  don't  make  some  stir  for  us." 

He  could  not  yet  know  that  Barre  and  Conway 
enlivened  a  languid  debate  on  March  22  by  defend 
ing  the  colonists'  position  and  their  right  of  petition. 
On  May  13,  after  news  of  the  passage  of  the 
Stamp  Act  had  arrived,  he  wrote :  — 

"I  am  heartily  sorry  for  the  great  Burthen  laid  upon  us, 
we  are  not  able  to  bear  all  things,  but  must  submit  to  higher 
powers,  these  taxes  will  greatly  affect  us,  our  Trade  will  be 
ruined,  and  as  it  is,  it's  very  dull." 

A  point  to  be  noticed  in  this  sentence  is  the 
apparent  submission  to  "  higher  powers."  Unless 
this  sentiment  was  penned  for  effect  upon  London 
agents,  Hancock  had  not  become  advanced  in 
outspoken  opposition  to  the  government  up  to 
this  time.  Such  antagonism  was  growing  fast 
in  the  town  and  doubtless  in  his  own  mind ;  but 
his  affairs  were  not  in  a  condition  to  warrant  a  break 
with  English  factors  by  expressing  more  than  a 
mild  regret  at  the  course  of  events,  accompanied 
by  commendation  for  their  choice  of  "Silk  Cloths" 
for  himself  and  an  order  for 
"two  pipes  of  the  very  best  Madeira  for  my  own  Table. 


Growth  of  Hancock's  Patriotism      101 

I  don't  stand  at  any  price,  let  it  be  good,  I  like  a  rich  wine. 
You  will  use  the  same  judgment  in  the  choice  of  it  as  for 
my  late  uncle  who  had  a  high  opinion  of  your  Fidelity." 

By  the  22d  of  August  he  is  aroused  to  a  stronger 
protest  which  he  sent  by  his  new  sloop  "  Liberty  "  on 
its  first  voyage. 

"I  refer  you  to  the  Newspapers  for  an  account  of  the 
proceedings  here  by  which  you  will  see  the  General  dissatis 
faction  here  on  account  of  the  Stamp  Act,  which  I  pray  may 
never  be  carried  into  Execution,  it  is  a  Cruel  hardship  upon 
us  &  unless  we  are  Redressed  we  must  be  Ruined,  our  Stamp 
officer  has  resigned.1  I  hope  the  same  Spirit  will  prevail 
throughout  the  whole  Continent,  do  Exert  yourselves  for 
us  and  promote  our  Interest  with  the  Body  of  Merchants  the 
fatal  Effects  of  these  Grievances  you  will  feel  very  Sensibly; 
our  Trade  must  decay  &  indeed  already  is  very  indifferent. 
I  can't  therefore  but  hope  that  we  shall  be  considered,  & 
that  some  will  rise  up  to  exert  themselves  for  us  we  are 
worth  saving  but  unless  speedily  relieved  we  shall  be  past 
remedy.  Do  think  of  us." 

When  the  stamps  arrived,  within  a  month  after 
this  letter,  he  wrote  again  in  answer  to  one  which 
had  come  over  in  the  same  ship  with 
"the  most  disagreeable  Commodity  (say  Stamps)  that 
were  ever  imported  into  this  Country,  and  what  if  carry'd 
into  Execution  will  entirely  Stagnate  Trade  here,  for  it  is 
universally  determined  here  never  to  submit  to  it,  ...  & 
nothing  but  the  repeal  of  the  act  will  lighten,  the  Conse 
quence  of  its  taking  place  will  be  bad,  &  I  believe  I  may  say 
more  fatal  to  you  than  to  us.  For  God's  sake  use  your  In 
terest  to  relieve  us.  I  dread  the  Event." 

1  For  the  text  of   the  Stamp  Act  see  MacDonald's  "Select 
Charters,"  p.  282. 


IO2  J°hn  Hancock 

Eighteen  days  before,  he  had  attended  a  town- 
meeting  in  Faneuil  Hall,  and  as  a  selectman  had 
been  appointed  one  of  a  committee  to  "  instruct  the 
town's  representatives  in  General  Assembly  as  to 
their  Conduct  at  this  very  alarming  Crisis."  And 
a  fortnight  after,  when  a  vacancy  in  the  list 
of  representatives  was  to  be  rilled,  he  received 
several  votes;  but  Sam  Adams  was  elected.  His 
turn  came  later. 

There  had  been  riots  in  August  with  hanging 
and  burning  the  stamp  officer's  effigy  and  attacking 
the  acting  governor's  house ;  but  as  a  town  Boston 
recorded  its  disapproval  of  such  demonstrations. 
Hancock  would  go  with  the  town  as  one  of  its 
officers;  but  in  the  quiet  of  his  office  he  wrote 
on  October  14  to  the  London  house  in  a  long  letter 
words  which  indicate  his  growing  patriotism  :  — 

"I  now  tell  you,  and  you  will  find  it  come  to  pass,  that 
the  people  of  this  Country  will  never  Suffer  themselves  to 

be  made  slaves  of  by  a  Submission  to  that  D d  act.    But 

I  shall  now  open  to  you  my  own  Determinations.  ...  a 
thousand  Guineas  would  be  no  Temptation  to  me  to  be  the 
first  that  should  apply  for  a  stamp.  .  .  .  Under  this 
additional  Burthen  of  the  Stamp  Act  I  cannot  carry  on 
business  to  any  profit  and  we  were  before  Cramp'd  in  our 
Trade  &  sufficiently  Burthen'd,  that  any  farther  Taxes 
must  Ruin  us.  ...  There  is  not  cash  enough  here  to  sup 
port  it.  ...  I  have  a  right  to  the  Libertys  &  Privileges 
of  the  English  Constitution.  &  I  as  an  Englishman  will  enjoy 
them.  .  .  ." 

In  the  transition  from  one   nationality  to  an- 


Growth  of  Hancock's  Patriotism     103 

other  the  home  country,  laws,  and  traditions  were 
still  uppermost  in  the  upper-class  American's 
mind  ten  years  before  the  revolt,  and  for  several 
years  after,  according  to  the  progress  independency 
was  making  in  different  minds.  When,  in  October, 
1765,  the  deputies  of  nine  colonies  assembled  in 
New  York  their  appeal  as  Americans  was  to  the 
natural  rights  of  Englishmen,  ending  in  a  declara 
tion  of  those  rights  and  a  statement  of  grievances, 
chiefly  the  taxation  of  colonists  who  could  not  be 
represented  in  the  House  of  Commons.  A  petition 
was  sent  asking  that  the  tax  laws  be  repealed, 
but  with  no  mention  of  intended  separation.1 

It  was  the  middle  of  January,  1766,  before 
American  affairs  came  up  in  Parliament.  The 
king  was  surprised  and  grieved,  provoked  and 
humiliated,  he  said,  by  colonial  disaffection.  He 
feared  where  it  would  end,  and  how  it  would  be 
dealt  with  in  Parliament.  Parties  differed  there, 
and  the  nation  was  divided.  Repeal  of  the  Stamp 
Act  was  urged  by  Whigs.  Tories  opposed  and  the 
aristocracy  of  the  country  backed  them,  while 
the  manufacturing  and  commercial  towns  saw 

1  "The  principle  of  no  taxation  without  representation  could 
not  be  maintained  by  any  statesman  not  prepared  for  a  radical 
reform  of  the  British  representative  system."  —  "Cambridge 
Modem  History,"  vi,  433.  "The  house  [of  Commons]  is  not  the 
representative  of  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  but  of  nominal 
boroughs,  ruined  towns,  noble  families,  wealthy  individuals,  and 
foreign  potentates."  —  William  Pitt  in  "Life"  by  J.  Holland  Rose, 
i,  107,  note. 


104  J°hn  Hancock 

repudiation  and  bankruptcy  ahead.  Pitt  rested 
his  plea  for  Americans  on  the  different  conditions 
of  life  in  a  new  land;  Mansfield  cited  British  prec 
edent  to  answer  their  demand  for  representation, 
eight  millions  of  Englishmen  out  of  nine  having 
no  votes  for  their  representatives,  and  yet  were 
taxed.  So  the  debate  went  on  between  two 
parties  there  as  here.  Franklin's  replies  at  his 
examination  before  the  Commons'  Committee 
on  the  1 3th  of  February  helped  to  clear  up  mis 
understanding  of  the  American  position,  and  a 
week  later  leave  was  given  to  bring  in  a  bill  for  the 
Repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act.  By  March  17,  it  had 
passed  both  Houses,  but  with  the  fatal  rider  that 
the  "King  and  Parliament  have  power  to  make  laws 
for  the  colonies  and  people  of  America,  and  that  any 
proceedings  denying  such '  power  are  utterly  null 
and  void." l 

The  provinces  were  so  thankful  for  the  repeal  of 
the  Stamp  Act  that  they  did  not  pay  much  atten 
tion  to  the  claim  of  authority  to  pass  other  acts. 
The  lad  who  has  escaped  punishment  does  not 
stay  to  argue  with  his  father  about  paternal  rights, 
but  hurries  off  about  his  enterprises.  So  did  the 
people  of  Boston.  They  were  wildly  elated. 
Cannon  boomed,  flags  were  thrown  to  the  breeze, 
music  went  up  and  down  the  streets.  John  Han 
cock  set  out  one  of  those  two  pipes  of  Madeira  that 

1John  Hancock's  brigantine  "Harrison,"  Shuabel  Coffin, 
master,  brought  the  news  of  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act. 


Growth  of  Hancock's  Patriotism      105 

he  had  ordered  for  his  own  use  in  front  of  his  house 
for  the  cheering  crowd,  —  who  remembered  him  at 
the  May  election  for  representatives.  Within  the 
mansion  the  aristocrats  of  the  town  helped  them 
selves  to  Burgundy  and  other  wines  at  his  side 
board  and  drank  healths  to  a  reforming  Parliament. 
Even  the  royal  governor,  Sir  Francis  Bernard, 
joined  in  the  general  rejoicing  which  drowned  party 
animosities  for  a  day.1 

In  the  succeeding  months  of  gratulation  and 
loyalty  throughout  the  colonies  threatening  weather 
seemed  to  be  clearing  and  might-  have  passed 
away  if  the  billeting  of  troops  and  demands  for  an 
unusual  provision  for  them  had  not  renewed  the 
irritation ;  which  soon  brought  out  a  refusal  by 
the  New  York  Assembly  and  its  own  suspension 
in  consequence.  Massachusetts  also  asked  its 
governor  why  he  had  provided  British  soldiers  at 
the  Castle  with  fire  and  candles  at  the  people's 
expense ;  and  at  first  the  Province  objected  to 
compensate  for  losses  through  mob  violence  in  the 
Stamp  Act  riots,  but  did  so  later.  Talk  of  separa 
tion  by  extremists  was  less  frequent  and  compara 
tive  content  prevailed. 

Unfortunately  England  could  not  acquiesce  in 
the  general  congratulation,  nor  give  up  hopes  of 
revenue  from  the  colonies.  Townshend,  chancellor 
of  the  exchequer,  was  confident  that  he  could  devise 

1  For  what  could  be  done  in  the  line  of  pyrotechnic  display  in 
1766  see  M.  A.  De  Wolfe  Howe's  "Boston  Common,"  p.  35. 


106  J°hn  Hancock 

a  method  to  secure  contributions  to  the  treasury, 
and  on  the  strength  of  this  anticipation  the  land 
tax  in  England  was  reduced  a  shilling  to  the  pound. 
To  balance  this  a  duty  was  laid  on  glass,  red  and 
white  lead,  paper,  and  tea  imported  by  Ameri 
cans  ;  the  revenue  to  be  used  in  giving  the  crown 
complete  control  of  colonial  governors  and  judges, 
by  paying  their  salaries  instead  of  letting  them  be 
amenable  to  the  provinces  and  receiving  their  sala 
ries  from  them. 

Discontent  was  rife  once  more.  Joseph  Hawley 
of  Northampton,  Massachusetts,  took  one  step 
beyond  everybody  else  when  he  declared,  that 
Parliament  had  no  right  to  legislate  at  all  for  the 
colonies  without  their  chosen  deputies  as  members 
of  it.1  The  whole  country  was  stirred  to  protest 
again,  but  with  a  sobriety  of  speech  that  was  more 
ominous  than  the  former  ebullition  of  riots.  The 
Boston  town-meeting  renewed  a  non-importation 
agreement  on  October  28,  1767,  and  two  months 
later  sent  a  letter  to  the  British  ministry,  and  others 
to  friendly  statesmen,  with  a  petition  to  the  king. 
While  their  right  hands  handed  over  these  loyal 
messages,  their  left  hands  passed  out  a  circular 
letter  to  other  colonial  legislatures,  urging  union 
and  harmony  in  view  of  what  might  be  coming. 
Eight  colonies  responded,  and  Virginia  issued  a 

1  In  Tudor 's  "Life  of  Otis"  some  account  is  given  of  this  re 
served  man  who  was  a  power  behind  noisier  patriots.  He  refused 
to  hold  any  office  because  the  desire  for  it  had  been  imputed  as  the 
reason  of  revolutionary  acts. 


Growth  of  Hancock's  Patriotism      107 

similar  letter  of  its  own.  Officers  of  the  crown  here, 
unable  to  enforce  revenue  laws,  declared  that 
Americans  were  bent  on  independence  despite  their 
professions  of  loyalty.  Lord  Hillsborough,  Sec 
retary  of  State,  sent  a  circular  to  other  colonies 
urging  them  to  treat  the  Massachusetts  letter  with 
contempt,  and  commanded  the  Massachusetts 
legislature  to  disapprove  of  its  own  action.  To 
which  James  Otis  replied,  "Let  Britain  rescind 
her  own  measures  or  the  colonies  are  lost  to  her 
forever:"  and  other  colonies  endorsed  Massa 
chusetts.  They  were  getting  together  for  serious 
business.  England  also  was  getting  ready. 

Meantime  John  Hancock's  attention  was  diverted 
to  the  promise  of  his  deceased  uncle  to  give  books 
to  the  value  of  five  hundred  pounds  sterling  to 
Harvard  College,  to  which  he  also  added  a  large 
collection  in  his  own  name.  Together  they 
numbered  1,098  volumes.  His  letter  ordering 
the  books  is  characteristic  of  a  book-lover  and 
shrewd  buyer :  — 

"It  is  some  time  since  I  heard  from  you  with  the  Maga 
zines  &c.  w'ch  Beg  in  future  you  will  please  be  Regular  in 
sending.  ...  I  now  inclose  you  a  large  Inv°  of  Books, 
which  I  desire  you  will  please  to  send  me,  pack'd  in  the  best 
manner  and  marked  I.  H.  I  must  Recommend  to  you  to 
be  very  carefull  in  the  collect  of  these  Books,  that  they  may 
be  the  best  Editions  &  well  Bound,  &  that  you  be  particular 
in  sending  every  Book  mentioned,  if  to  be  had  at  any  price, 
that  each  and  every  book  be  neatly  Lettered  &  as  there  are 
several  Pamphlets,  that  you  will  be  Mindful  to  Bind  as 


io8  John  Hancock 

many  together  as  will  make  a  neat  volume  &  let  them  all  be 
sent  in  that  way.  Lettering  on  the  Back,  that  they  may 
be  known.  Upon  the  whole,  I  Recommend  to  you  that  the 
whole  of  these  Books  be  very  neat,  well  chosen,  &  Charged 
at  the  Lowest  prices,  as  the  whole  of  these  Books  are  a 
present  from  me  to  our  College  Library  in  Cambridge." 

The  rest  of  the  letter  relates  to  shipment  and 
terms  of  payment.  It  is  to  be  presumed  that  as  he 
was  fulfilling  a  request  of  his  uncle,  which  he  might 
have  failed  to  do  without  prosecution,  and  also  added 
to  the  gift  himself,  he  did  not  think  it  necessary  to 
specify  to  the  London  bookseller  that  one  half  of 
the  donation  was  Thomas  Hancock's.  He  need  not, 
however,  have  been  particular  to  say,  "the  whole 
of  these  Books  are  a  present  from  me."  They 
understood  at  Harvard  the  share  due  to  each  donor, 
and  acknowledged  the  same  on  Commencement 
Day,  July  15,  1767.  Moreover,  something  ought 
to  be  forgiven  to  the  nephew  who  supplemented 
his  uncle's  endowment  of  a  Hebrew  professorship, 
and  a  gift  of  theological  books,  with  Spenser, 
Chaucer,  Pope,  Dryden,  and  Gay,  although  Voltaire 
and  Rabelais  must  have  been  regarded  with  sus 
picion  by  the  faculty.  Hollis's  donation  of  Milton, 
Shakespeare,  La  Fontaine,  and  Boccaccio  was 
similarly  a  departure  from  what  had  been  regarded  as 
appropriate  reading  for  students  in  the  Puritan  age.1 

1  The  inventory  of  the  books  shipped  by  Thos.  Longman  on  the 
"Boston  Packet"  from  London  March  21,  1766,  "to  the  account 
and  Risque  of  John  Hancock,  Esqr.  Merchant  in  Boston,"  con 
tains  about  five  hundred  titles,  at  a  cost  of  £516.  16.  13!.'' 
"  Chamberlain  Mss."  Boston  Public  Library. 


Growth  of  Hancock's  Patriotism     109 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  enumerate  the  list  of  books 
in  Hancock's  own  library  as  finally  inventoried, 
and  copied  in  the  " Historical  Magazine"  for  May, 
1860.  It  is  a  fair  collection  of  volumes  for  the 
time  and  fuller  than  most  libraries  of  the  day, 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  numbers  in  all. 

Postlethwaite's  Dictionary  of  Trade  and  Commerce;  2 
vols.,  folio.  Dart's  History  and  Antiquities  of  the  Abbey 
Church  of  St.  Peter's;  2  vols.,  folio.  Chamber's  Dictionary:  2 
vols.,  folio.  Willard's  Divinity;  folio.  Flavel's  Works;  folio. 
Bacon's  Philosophy.  Hollis's  Memoirs;  quarto.  Prussian 
Evolutions.  Carter's  Epictetus.  Newton's  Milton;  3  vols. 
Role's  Conduct.  Universal  History;  51  vols.  Memoirs  of 
Marlborough.  Magdalen  Charities.  Hanway's  Reflections 
on  Life  and  Religion.  Varro's  Husbandry.  Locke  on  the 
Understanding.  Beccaria  on  Crimes.  Annals  of  the  Nether 
lands.  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Zimmerman 
on  Pride.  Dickinson's  Political  Essays.  Cato's  Letters; 
4  vols.  Field's  Engineer.  Adams's  Defence  of  the  Constitu 
tion;  3  vols.  Ramsay's  History  of  the  United  States. 
Belknap's  New  Hampshire.  Erkhard's  Gazetteer,  or  the 
Newsman's  interpreter.  Nature  Displayed,  or  Spectacle 
de  la  Nature;  7  vols.  Salmon's  Short  View.  Clarendon's 
Rebellion.  British  Registers.  Whitelock's  Historical 
Memoirs.  Age  of  Louis  XIV.  British  Customs.  Eng 
land's  Reformation.  Horneck's  Great  Law  of  Considera 
tion.  Hervey's  Meditations.  Chauncy's  Thoughts  on 
Religion.  Virgil.  Horace  and  Tully.  Estimate  of  Man 
ners.  Greek  Homer.  Caesar  and  Juvenal.  Tattler  and 
Guardian.  Shakespeare  and  Spectator.  Female  Spectator. 
Pamela.  Mahew's  Sermons.  Sir  Charles  Grandison. 
Faith  and  Practice;  2  vols.  Collin's  Rambler.  Gay.  Tom 
Jones.  Pope.  Dryden.  Glover's  Leonidas.  Robertson's 
Scotland.  Military  Instructor.  Essay  on  Slavery.  Jour- 


no  John  Hancock 

nal  of  Congress.  Emily  Montague.  Bibles  in  various 
languages.  Whole  Duty  of  Man.  Archbishop  Sharpe's. 
Sermons  and  Discourses;  7  vols.  Watts's  Works.  Massa 
chusetts  Constitution.  Adam's  Defence,  in  Dutch.  Ladies 
Library;  3  vols.  Irwin's  Tracts.  Boyer's  French  Dic 
tionary.  Sim's  Military  Guide.  Historical  Dictionary. 
Hewett's  Fables.  Memoirs  of  the  Plague  in  London. 
Mathematical  works  in  French,  Latin,  Greek,  and  Dutch. 

If  Hancock's  radical  sentiments  had  been  of 
slower  growth  than  Sam  Adams's,  they  were  to  have 
a  stimulus  which  would  be  likely  to  ripen  them 
speedily.  On  June  10,  1768,  one  of  his  vessels,  a 
new  sloop  with  the  ominous  name  of  "Liberty," 
arrived  in  the  harbor  with  wines  from  Madeira. 
Custom  house  officials  happened  to  be  displaying 
one  of  the  intermittent  attacks  of  zeal  to  which 
they  are  subject  in  all  times  and  places.  This 
particular  collector,  Thomas  Kirk,  was  so  officious 
about  the  casks  of  Madeira  that  the  crew  locked 
him  below  while  the  wet  goods  were  swung  to  the 
dock  and  a  false  entry  made,  according  to  an  evasive 
habit  which  importers  had  fallen  into  after  the 
ancient  Act  of  Navigation  had  become  offensive  in 
its  recent  enforcement.  How  far  the  owner  of  the 
sloop  was  responsible  for  the  lawlessness  of  the 
crew  is  a  question  that  could  have  been  answered 
easier  at  the  time  than  now.  His  friend,  Captain 
James  Marshall,  was  not  far  away,  and  the  office 
and  warehouse  certainly  were  not,  and  doubtless 
the  owner  was  not.  But  the  master  of  a  British 
frigate  was  impressing  American  sailors  into  his 


Growth  of  Hancock's  Patriotism      1 1 1 

service;  one  of  them  had  been  rescued  that  very 
day.  It  was  not  a  time  to  observe  the  revenue  laws 
of  Engand  more  strictly  than  they  had  been 
heeded  for  many  years  all  along  the  coast.1 

When  the  customs  collector  was  released  from  the 
hold  he  reported  the  outrage  to  the  commander 
of  the  "Romney,"  a  fifty-gun  ship  that  liad  brought 
troops  to  Boston.  Hancock's  sloop  was  soon  seized 
for  fraudulent  entry  and  moved  under  the  frigate's 
guns  to  prevent  recapture  by  amphibious  Bos- 
tonians.  Landsmen  joined  in  a  consequent  riot 
to  the  damage  of  revenue  officers'  houses,  and  the 
collector's  boat,  which  had  figured  in  the  affair 
of  the  " Liberty,"  was  taken  to  the  Common  and 
burned,  while  its  owner  fled  to  the  "Romney" 
for  protection  and  thence  to  Castle  William. 
A  town  meeting  had  always  been  the  safety  valve 
of  the  upper  classes  when  the  lower  ran  riot. 
One  was  immediately  called,  which  sent  an  address 
to  Governor  Bernard,  its  sentiments  balancing 
between  professions  of  loyalty  and  the  spirit  of 
liberty,  accompanied  by  a  request  to  have  the  frig 
ate  removed  from  the  harbor.  Bernard  replied 
that  it  was  beyond  his  authority  to  order  the 
removal.  Hancock  was  one  of  a  committee  which 
went  to  see  when  the  governor  wo'uld  receive  them, 

1  "The  first  act  of  violence  was  the  seizure  of  John  Hancock's 
sloop  Liberty,  which  was  freighted  with  a  cargo  of  Madeira  wine, 
June  10,  1768." — Guy  Carleton  Lee's  "History  of  North  Amer 
ica,"  vi,  119.  The  duty  on  Madeira  was  much  higher  accord 
ing  to  its  value  than  on  other  wines. 


ii2  John  Hancock 

but  he  was  at  his  house  in  Jamaica  Plain,  whither 
a  larger  delegation  proceeded  in  an  imposing  line 
of  eleven  chaises,  to  be  politely  received  and  get 
the  above  unsatisfactory  answer  from  the  governor. 

As  for  the  case  of  Hancock  and  his  sloop  "Lib 
erty,"  it  was  brought  into  the  courts  and  prose 
cuted  under  libels  to  the  amount  of  100.000  pounds 
sterling.  John  Adams  was  counsel  for  the  de 
fendant,  his  main  defense  being  that  a  law  had 
been  broken  which  Americans  had  no  share  in 
making.  The  case  gave  him  no  end  of  trouble, 
and  was  finally  settled  by  the  battle  of  Lexington, 
with  many  other  old  scores. 

Various  incidents  have  been  interpreted  as 
marking  the  initial  break  of  colonists  with  the 
authority  of  the  crown,  but  none  are  so  notable  as 
the  restraint  of  the  inspector  and  the  retaliatory 
taking  into  custody  of  Hancock's  sloop.  Wine  had 
been  escorted  by  a  gang  of  roughs  through  the 
town  three  months  before,  an  occurrence  which 
the  revenue  officers  deemed  it  prudent  not  to 
notice  lest  the  tar-and-feather  fate  of  a  Providence 
collector  should  befall  them.  But  now  the  gage  had 
been  thrown  down  in  sight  of  a  royal  frigate  by  a 
Boston  merchant,  and  it  had  been  picked  up  by  the 
commander.  It  was  not  necessary  to  fire  a  broad 
side  to  announce  that  a  conflict  had  begun.  It 
must  be  admitted  that  John  Hancock  began  it. 
For  good  or  evil  he  had  that  distinction.  Sam 
Adams  had  plotted  and  talked  and  written.  James 


Growth  of  Hancock's  Patriotism      1 1 3 

Otis  had  waxed  eloquent;  Joseph  Hawley  had 
gone  a  step  further  in  radical  utterances,  and 
Joseph  Warren  had  been  a  leader  in  club  meetings 
of  patriots ;  but  it  fell  to  John  Hancock  to  commit 
the  overt  and  conspicuous  act  which  brought 
about  the  first  clash  with  the  British  government 
that  was  important  enough  to  deserve  the  name. 
In  itself  the  deed  was  not  a  noble  one,  unless  as 
a  protest  against  an  unpopular  or  unjust  law  which 
had  been  often  violated,  so  frequently  and  boldly 
that  the  government  was  open  to  the  ridicule 
of  the  world.  It  was  obliged  to  maintain  its  rev 
enue  acts  or  rescind  them.  Protests  against  them 
had  availed  nothing;  accordingly  defiance  was 
tried.  It  was  the  same  course  that  was  pursued 
in  one  instance  after  another  until  independence 
was  secured;  but  Hancock,  with  his  customary 
fortune,  headed  the  list  and  led  the  procession. 
He  was  not  exactly  a  drum-major,  tossing  a  gilded 
pikestaff  in  advance  of  band  and  regiment,  officers 
and  troops,  but  he  lacked  nothing  of  the  foremost 
place  and  splendor  of  the  radiant  leader  who  gives 
the  time  to  a  marching  host.  It  will  be  observed  as 
his  story  proceeds  that  he  was  in  the  forefront  of 
many  movements  and  at  the  turning-point  in 
several  critical  junctures.  He  was  not  so  often  the 
cause  of  occurrences  as  the  apparent  occasion; 
which  is  the  most  evident  token  to  the  multitude 
of  intimate  connection  with  events.  In  this 
instance  he  was  not  the  man  to  regret  that  his 


114  J°hn  Hancock 

ship  had  been  caught  between  an  American  dock 
and  a  British  man-of-war,  nor  that  he  had  per 
sisted  in  violating  laws  which  were  deemed  un 
just  and  were  broken  in  every  port.  His  impor 
tance  would  not  be  diminished  by  the  confiscation 
of  his  sloop  —  the  wines  were  safe  —  and  he 
himself  was  immediately  the  most  conspicuous 
patriot  in  the  town. 

He  was  also  a  cloud  in  the  west  to  the  ministry 
in  London  when  they  heard  what  had  happened. 
They  declared  once  more  that  "  there  had  been  a 
long-concerted  plan  to  resist  the  authority  of 
Great  Britain,1  and  that  the  people  of  Boston  had 
hastened  to  acts  of  violence  sooner  than  was  in 
tended,  and  that  nothing  but  immediate  exertion 
of  military  power  could  prevent  an  open  revolt 
of  the  town."  So  they  ordered  two  additional 
regiments  to  Boston.  It  certainly  looked  as  if 
Hancock  was  to  have  the  honor  of  precipitating 
hostilities  when  in  town-meeting  James  Otis 
said,  pointing  to  four  hundred  muskets  belonging 
to  the  town,  " There  are  your  arms;  when  an 
attempt  is  made  against  your  liberties  they  will  be 
delivered  to  you:"  and  the  inhabitants  then  voted 
to  provide  themselves  further  with  arms,  alleging 
that  "  there  is  an  apprehension  in  the  minds  of 

1  Later  it  was  openly  announced  that  Hancock  and  Washington 
were  privy  to  a  conspiracy  for  burning  down  London,  and  that 
Hancock  in  a  letter  written  in  cipher  had  prophesied  the  blowing 
up  of  the  city.  — Trevelyan's  "George  III. and  Charles  Fox," 
I,  253- 


Growth  of  Hancock's  Patriotism      1 1 5 

many  of  an  approaching  war  with  France"  !  so 
shrewdly  careful  were  they  to  avoid  all  outward 
suggestion  of  disloyalty. 

In  due  season  two  regiments  with  artillery 
arrived  from  Halifax,  and  were  landed  under 
the  protection  of  eight  men-of-war.  When  they 
marched  to  the  Common  with  sixteen  rounds  of 
cartridges  in  their  boxes  and  camped  there  —  also 
in  Faneuil  Hall,  and  the  Town  House  —  some 
Tories  would  say,  catching  Dundas'  phrase,  See 
what  John  Hancock  and  his  crew  have  brought  here 
by  running  that  cargo  of  wines  past  the  custom 
house  with  only  partial  entry  —  "five  pipes  for 
himself,  two  for  the  Treasurer  of  the  Province,  and 
six  of  good  saleable  Madeira  for  our  market"  —  so 
ran  the  order  to  Hill,  Lamar,  &  Bissett.  But  with 
the  Whigs  he  was  already  in  greater  favor  than 
Sam  Adams  even,  since  at  the  election  of  1767  he 
was  reflected  representative  to  the  General  Court 
by  a  vote  of  six  hundred  and  eighteen,  which  was 
forty-four  more  than  Adams  received,  and  forty- 
three  more  than  Otis,  and  sixty-one  more  than 
Gushing.  If,  as  his  enemies  said,  he  was  fond 
of  popularity  and  courted  it,  he  was  eminently 
successful ;  and  if  there  was  a  leader  of  the  populace 
in  the  direction  they  were  headed  it  was  the  aris 
tocratic  Hancock.  When  the  natural  antipathy  of 
the  class  that  composed  the  rank  and  file  of  radicals, 
at  this  preliminary  stage  of  the  Revolution,  to  the 
conservative  element  to  which  Hancock  belonged 


n6  John  Hancock 

is  remembered,  something  more  than  an  over 
weening  thirst  for  general  applause  must  be  taken 
into  account.  A  hard-headed  people  saw  values 
beyond  the  wealth  and  display  which  most  often 
antagonize  them ;  nor  were  their  suffrages  won  by 
civilities  that  are  apt  to  be  interpreted  as  patronage. 
Therefore  it  will  be  difficult  to  attribute  Hancock's 
headship  at  this  period  to  any  causes  which  do  not 
include  a  genuine  devotion  to  liberty  for  the  colonies, 
manifested  by  personal  sacrifices  which  he  was 
ready  to  make  and  did  make,  as  will  be  seen.  For 
every  reason  he  was  a  man  of  the  people  at  a  time 
when  they  needed  a  man  of  position  commercially, 
politically,  and  .socially ;  but  if  he  had  not  also 
had  a  genuine  and  devoted  patriotism  his  other 
accessories  would  not  have  satisfied  them.1 

His  increasing  patriotism  and  consequent  popu 
larity  meant  a  corresponding  disfavor  with  the  Brit 
ish  government.  He  loomed  large  before  the  minis 
try  when  they  heard  of  the  "  Liberty"  affair,  and  the 
king  was  so  incensed  that  he  never  forgave  him.  It 
was  suggested  in  Parliament  that  the  names  of  the 
chief  agitators  be  sent  to  one  of  the  Secretaries 
of  State,  and  that  a  statute,  long  obsolete,  be 
enforced  to  bring  to  England  subjects  accused 
of  treason  outside  the  kingdom.  There  were 
Tories  in  Boston  who  could  furnish  rebel  lists  of 

1  "Our  forefathers,  at  the  beginning  of  the  struggle,  were  glad 
if  they  and  their  cause  could  even  be  counted  respectable."  — 
Perkins's  "France  in  the  American  Revolution,"  p.  64. 


Growth  of  Hancock's  Patriotism      1 1 7 

varying  length,  but  John  Hancock  would  just  then 
head  every  one  of  them,  although  Sam  Adams  had 
the  priority  when  affidavits  were  sent  over  to  prove 
him  fit  to  be  transported.  Possibly  Hancock 
was  too  important  socially  and  commercially  in 
loyalist  circles  to  be  attacked;  and  moreover  he 
was  not  so  noisy  in  town-meeting  as  Adams.  But 
George  the  Third  did  not  make  much  distinction 
between  them  when  he  excepted  both  from  a 
general  amnesty.1  Still,  both  of  them  were  more 
reserved  than  Otis  or  Hawley  in  provoking  the 
government  by  radical  speech.  With  other  wise 
men  it  was  their  policy  to  let  Britain  become  the 
first  offender  and  to  place  themselves  on  the  defen 
sive  merely.  Accordingly  they  waited  a  year  and  a 
half,  while  troops  idled  in  the  town  and  the  armed 
fleet  swung  at  anchor  in  the  harbor.  Soldiers 
and  sailors,  liable  to  insult  and  abuse,  behaved  as 
well  as  could  be  expected,  restrained  by  officers 
who  had  their  loyalist  sympathizers  and  enter 
tainers  in  the  town  in  greater  numbers  than  is 
supposed  by  those  who  imagine  the  struggle  to 
have  been  between  a  united  America  and  a  solid 

1  Force, "  American  Archives,"  Fourth  Series,  n,  968.  The  worst 
that  the  malignant  Tory,  "Z.  Z."  could  say  of  him  was  that  "Sam 
Adams  with  his  oily  tongue  had  duped  a  man  whose  brains  were 
shallow  and  his  pockets  deep,  and  ushered  him  to  the  public  as  a 
patriot  too.  He  filled  his  head  with  importance  and  emptied  his 
pockets,  and  as  a  reward  kicked  him  up  the  ladder  where  he  now 
presides  over  the  Twelve  United  Provinces."  —  Quoted  by  Wells, 
"Life  of  Samuel  Adams,"  p.  431, 


n8  J°hn  Hancock 

England ;  whereas  there  was  a  division  of  sentiment 
in  each  country.  But  between  the  common 
troops  and  laborers  on  the  docks,  in  shipyards, 
and  ropewalks  there  was  always  friction,  which 
like  flint  with  steel  was  likely  to  strike  fire  some 
day. 

This  happened  on  the  2d  of  March,  1770,  when 
the  rope-spinners  of  the  North  End  put  up  a  street 
fight  with  the  soldiers  of  the  2gth  regiment,  of 
which  the  commander  complained  to  Hutchinson 
as  acting  governor.  Three  days  later  a  crowd 
which  had  been  called  together  by  a  false  alarm 
of  fire  began  pelting  a  sentinel  in  front  of  the 
Custom  House.  Calling  for  help,  Captain  Preston 
and  a  squad  of  half  a  dozen  soldiers  came  to  his 
defence.  The  mob  surrounded  them  flourishing 
clubs,  calling  names,  and  daring  the  troops  to 
shoot.  A  soldier,  hit  with  a  bludgeon,  fired  and 
killed  a  ringleader,  Crispus  Attucks,  a  mulatto. 
Other  soldiers  fired,  killing  three,  mortally  wounding 
two,  and  injuring  six.  The  soldiers  were  arrested, 
imprisoned,  and  acquitted  seven  months  afterward 
by  a  Boston  jury.  But  the  icy  snowballs  of  a 
March  evening,  returned  by  bullets,  opened  a 
series  of  battles,  the  next  of  which  was  to  be  five 
years  later. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

i* 

ENTRANCE   UPON  PUBLIC  LIFE 

THE  seizure  of  his  sloop  had  made  an  apology, 
if  he  needed  one,  for  John  Hancock  to  become  active 
in  the  liberty  party.  Even  his  loyalist  neighbors 
would  excuse  his  attitude.  In  their  hearts  they 
would  have  held  him  to  be  a  mean-spirited  coward 
if  he  had  not  resented  the  act,  although  some  would 
say  that  the  commander  of  the  "Romney"  was 
obliged  to  maintain  the  laws;  but  such  defenders 
did  not  belong  to  the  princely  smugglers  down  by 
the  wharves.  These  apologizers  more  likely  were 
inn-holders  who  kept  taverns  frequented  by  army 
and  navy  officers,  or  lawyers  who  held  briefs  for 
customs  officials,  or  ministers  who  preached  to 
congregations  supposed  to  be  generally  loyal, 
like  Church  of  England  people  who  gave  patriots 
so  much  trouble,  and  suffered  more  as  the  struggle 
proceeded  and  when  it  ended.  However  the  affair 
of  the  wine-laden  ship  was  regarded,  with  the 
subsequent  action  against  its  owner,  he  was  brought 
prominently  into  the  controversy  that  was  brewing, 
and  gave  advanced  leaders  a  powerful  leverage  to 
lift  him  into  preeminence.1  Two  years  before 

1  Stark,  with  Loyalist  sympathies,  says  that  the  breaking  out  of 
the  Revolution  saved  Hancock  from  financial  ruin,  his  case  being 


I2O  J°hn  Hancock 

this  he  had  celebrated  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp 
Act  with  hospitable  cheer,  and  voters  did  not 
forget  it  when  they  chose  him  one  of  a  committee 
to  thank  John  Dickinson  of  Pennsylvania  for  his 
1  'Farmer's  Letters,"  now  circulating  throughout 
the  colonies.  Hancock  was  in  good  patriot 
company,  between  Samuel  Adams  and  Joseph 
Warren,  the  two  other  members  of  the  committee. 
Two  months  afterward  came  the  capture  of  the 
" Liberty,"  which  naturally  confirmed  and  strength 
ened  his  choice  of  party  and  helped  his  promotion 
in  its  ranks.  And  when  in  May,  1769,  Governor 
Bernard  summoned  the  Legislature,  which  had  not 
met  for  a  year,  Boston  placed  Hancock  on  the  list  of 
representatives.1  The  first  action  of  this  assembly 
was  to  demand  the  removal  of  troops  from  the  town. 
Refusing  to  do  business  until  this  was  done,  the 
representatives  were  sent  out  to  Cambridge, 
on  the  pretext  that  they  would  there  be  out  of 
military  reach.  Soon  after,  the  governor  was 
removed  from  the  trouble  he  was  making,  being 
recalled  to  court  and  made  Baronet  of  Nettleham 
for  his  consolation. 

in  the  Admiralty  Court  at  the  time  for  damages  laid  for  more  than 
the  value  of  his  property.  —  "Loyalists  of  Massachusetts,"  p.  50. 
1 "  John  Adams,  walking  with  Sam  Adams  on  the  Common, 
looking  towards  Hancock's  house  said,  'This  town  has  done  a  wise 
thing  to-day.  They  have  made  that  young  man's  fortune  their 
own.'  His  prophecy  was  literally  fulfilled,  for  no  man's  property 
was  ever  more  entirely  devoted  to  the  public.  And  his  private 
affairs  were  left  to  subalterns  to  the  end  of  his  life."  —  Tudor 's 
"Life  of  James  Otis,"  p.  262,  note, 


Entrance  Upon  Public  Life      121 

Then  came  the  scrimmage  by  the  custom  house, 
an  appropriate  place,  since  import  and  export  duties 
were  the  chief  cause  of  contention;  and  the  town 
called  the  killing  of  six  and  the  injury  of  half-a- 
dozen  more  a  Massacre,  commemorating  it  on 
every  anniversary  for  thirteen  years.  Blood  was 
up  and  the  struggle  had  begun.  Another  town- 
meeting  was  in  order,  with  the  consequent  commit 
tee  of  seven  of  the  principal  citizens,  on  which 
John  Hancock  was  placed  first  and  Samuel  Adams 
second.  They  were  to  visit  the  governor  and 
demand  that  the  troops  be  removed  from  town, 
both  regiments,  only  six  hundred  men  in  all.  A 
biographer  of  Adams  remarks  that  "Probably 
the  rich,  luxurious  chairman  [Hancock]  did  not 
forget,  even  on  an  occasion  like  this,  to  set  off  his 
fine  figure  with  gay  velvet  and  lace,  and  a  gold 
headed  cane."  Even  so  he  was  first  inside  the 
council  chamber  at  the  head  of  a  company  which 
included  Henshaw,  Phillips,  Molineux,  Pemberton, 
and  Warren.  Of  course  it  was  Adams  who  did 
the  talking,  as  usual ;  but  Hancock  had  the  honor 
and  the  satisfaction  of  personally  conducting 
the  embassy  which  compelled  the  governor  to 
send  the  two  obnoxious  regiments  out  to  Castle 
William.  He  had  also  the  gratification  of  reporting 
success  to  the  meeting,  which  had  waited  till  dark 
to  hear  from  the  committee,  and  to  learn  that  "the 
inhabitants  expressed  their  high  satisfaction  it 
afforded  them,"  as  the  record  runs,  The  victory 


122  J°hn  Hancock 

which  the  patriot  party  won  had  been  for  the  peace 
of  the  whole  town,  and  by  the  effort  of  the  most 
prominent  men  in  it,  peers  of  Hancock  in  eminence. 
Others  who  had  not  endorsed  their  action  were 
profited  by  it.  The  tide  was  turning  to  the  flood. 
John  Hancock  had  no  reason  to  doubt  which 
was  the  people's  party;  that  he  was  in  general 
favor  and  on  the  road  to  honor  and  usefulness  he 
had  abundant  evidence.  To  be  a  selectman  was 
then  a  great  distinction ;  to  be  a  representative 
in  the  Legislature  was  a  high  honor.  Frequent 
choice  as  presiding  officer  was  another  token  of 
popular  estimation ;  and  to  be  chairman  of  commit 
tees,  and  a  leader  of  deputations  was  still  further 
proof  of  public  regard.  He  generally  knew  what 
he  could  do  well  and  what  he  could  not,  with 
one  exception  which  will  appear  later ;  but  accord 
ing  to  his  ability  he  was  willing  to  serve,  and  what 
he  furnished  was  no  small  part  of  the  requisites 
to  success.1  The  Whig  party  had  not  enough  of 
such  material  to  outdo  the  Tories  in  a  direction 
which  is  much  to  some  and  something  to  every 
body,  namely  wealth  and  social  standing. 

It  is  rarely,  however,  that  any  man's  road  to  pros- 

1  "As  a  presiding  officer  he  was  not  surpassed  by  any  person  of 
his  time.  His  voice  was  powerful,  his  acquaintance  with  parlia 
mentary  forms  accurate ;  apprehension  quick,  attentive,  impartial, 
dignified,  and  he  inspired  respect  and  confidence  wherever  he 
presided.  In  private  life  he  commanded  the  esteem  of  political 
opponents,  and  his  beneficence  never  failed."  —  Tudor's  "Life  of 
James  Otis,"  p.  268. 


Entrance  Upon  Public  Life      123 

perity  has  no  turnings,  and  Hancock's  course  was 
not  always  in  the  straight  line  which  Sam  Adams 
chose.  When  the  controversy  was  renewed  about 
convening  the  General  Court  at  Cambridge  in 
obedience  to  royal  instructions,  Adams  held  that 
these  were  a  violation  of  the  chartered  rights  of 
the  Province.  Hancock  took  the  side  of  Hutchin- 
son  and  the  king.  Aside  from  the  inconvenience 
of  getting  to  the  academic  town  and  staying  there, 
no  greater  harm  would  follow  than  that  of  crowding 
instructors  and  students  out  of  the  "  Philosophy 
Room"  which  the  Legislature  honored  by  its 
sessions.  It  was  the  king's  " instructions"  that 
Adams  objected  to,  with  Hawley  and  Bowdoin  on 
his  side;  while  Hancock,  Otis,  and  others  of  the 
majority  took  the  view  that  if  the  crown  wished 
to  adjourn  the  assembly  to  the  wilds  of  "  Housa- 
tonic  in  the  extreme  west  of  the  Province"  it 
could  do  so.  It  was  a  bitter  pill  to  Adams  that 
they  put  him  on  the  committee  which  took  this 
humble  acquiescence  to  the  governor ;  but  he  had 
an  opportunity  to  see  how  badly  matters  were 
going.  The  removal  to  Cambridge  could  not 
be  raised  to  the  dignity  of  a  calamity  when  there 
were  other  differences  lying  like  a  cloud-bank  on 
the  eastern  horizon. 

Hancock  had  been  hearing  of  late  considerable 
talk  about  being  a  tool  of  Adams's.  It  was  a 
convenient  time  to  show  that  he  had  a  mind  of  his 
own,  especially  when  Otis  and  the  majority  were  with 


124  J°hn   Hancock 

him.  Hutchinson  ungenerously  construed  his  atti 
tude  as  a  defection  from  the  liberty  party,  in 
which  the  governor  was  followed  by  later  critics;1 
but  Adams  and  Hawley  were  not  the  entire  band 
of  patriots,  —  only  pioneers  blazing  the  path. 
When  something  of  more  consequence  came  up 
Hancock  was  with  them  once  more.  Stephen 
Higginson,  writing  for  the  "Massachusetts  Cen- 
tinel"  in  the  heat  of  a  gubernatorial  campaign 
twenty  years  after  this  episode,  asserted  that 
radicals  had  no  confidence  in  his  [Hancock's] 
attachment  to  the  cause,  and  but  for  their  vigilance 
Hutchinson  would  have  gained  him  to  the  royalist 
party;  and  that  it  was  often  with  great  pains 
that  they  prevented  him  from  going  over  to  the 
other  side.  It  was  a  serious  charge  for  even  a  politi 
cal  opponent  to  make  in  a  day  when  vilification 
was  as  common  and  as  bitter  as  it  has  ever  been. 
But  the  assertion,  whatever  ground  it  may  have 
had,  did  not  gain  sufficient  credence  with  the 
people  of  Massachusetts  to  prevent  the  election 
of  Hancock  to  their  chief  magistracy.2 

iuln  1771  Hancock  gave  such  signs  of  disgust  at  his  former 
(Whig)  associates  and  opinions  that  Hutchinson  had  strong  hopes 
of  bringing  him  over  to  the  Tory  side.  .  .  .  But  his  recreancy  was 
short."  —  Hosmer,  "Life  of  Hutchinson,"  p.  210. 

2  The  question  of  Hancock  and  Adams  being  offered  peerages 
as  bribes  to  ensure  their  loyalty  is  one  of  the  impressions  which  lack 
sufficient  foundation.  If  they  had  been  approached  on  the 
subject,  as  sundry  persons  were  at  a  later  day  with  more  sub 
stantial  offers,  it  would  have  been  noised  abroad.  But  Hancock 
and  Adams  were  too  early  and  firm  in  their  attitude  toward  the 


Entrance  Upon  Public  Life      125 

This  wavering  of  the  left  wing  was  one  of  the 
incidents  belonging  to  a  time  of  discouragement 
when  in  1771  Admiral  Montague  brought  twelve 
ships  to  anchor  in  Boston  harbor.  Sedition  could 
not  spread  or  greatly  flourish  under  their  guns, 
and  might  have  died  out  if  the  efforts  of  Adams 
and  Hawley  had  not  been  ceaseless.  In  the  pro 
posed  surrender  of  the  Castle  to  an  officer  of  the 
king,  and  in  the  payment  of  royal  officers'  salaries 
by  the  crown  they  saw  signs  of  "  despotic  administra 
tion."  This  indignity  brought  Adams  to  develop 
an  idea  which  had  occurred  to  him  nine  years 
before,  which  may  be  regarded  as  the  latest  germ 
of  all  the  association,  confederation,  and  union 
that  followed. 

In  the  "Boston  Gazette"  of  October  2,  1772, 
he  closed  an  appeal  with  these  words: — "Let 
every  Town  assemble.  Let  Associations  and 
Combinations  be  everywhere  set  up  to  consult 
and  recover  our  just  Rights."  Out  of  this  sugges 
tion  came  the  Committees  of  Correspondence, 
which  eventually  united  towns  and  colonies  in  a 
single  purpose  and  in  a  common  cause.  The 
scheme  did  not  at  first  commend  itself  to  all  the 
patriot  party.  Hancock,  with  Phillips,  Cushing, 
and  the  selectmen  of  influence  were  opposed  to  it ; 
and  when  Adams  by  a  flank  movement  in  town- 
meeting  obtained  a  vote  for  a  Committee  of  Corre- 

royal  policy  to  encourage  royal  advances.    Instead  they  had 
threats  from  the  throne. 


126  John  Hancock 

spondence  to  consist  of  twenty-one  persons,  prom 
inent  men  would  not  serve  on  it,  Hancock  among 
others.  As  finally  constituted,  Otis  was  chair 
man;  Adams,  Warren,  and  Church  taking  the 
responsibility  of  preparing  a  document  setting 
forth  the  rights  of  colonists,  how  they  had  been 
violated,  and  the  sense  of  the  town  of  Boston  re 
specting  the  situation.  Contrary  to  the  general 
expectation  this  statement,  sent  broadcast,  pro 
duced  a  marvellous  effect,  causing  similar  com 
mittees  to  be  formed  in  other  towns  and  colonies. 
It  also  raised  a  long  controversy  with  Governor 
Hutchinson,  in  which  he  announced  the  king's 
disapproval  of  such  committees  and  their  extra- 
legislative  and  irresponsible  doings. 

Hancock  was  not  long  out  of  sympathy  with 
Adams  nor  beyond  his  influence.  Their  friend 
ship  had  been  so  strong  that  in  1772  the  merchant 
had  employed  Copley  to  paint  both  their  portraits 
to  be  hung  together  in  his  drawing-room,  where 
they  remained  for  fifty  years,  afterward  adorning 
Faneuil  Hall,  and  now  to  be  seen  in  the  Art  Museum. 
Such  companions  were  not  likely  to  become  per 
manently  estranged  over  an  untried  proposition. 
In  its  great  success  Adams  could  afford  to  forgive 
Hancock  and  the  rest  of  the  doubters;  and  the 
gentleman  was  ready  to  accord  the  politician  the 
praise  he  merited.  Moreover,  Adams  had  uses 
for  his  wealthy,  popular,  and  aristocratic  friend; 
who  in  turn  was  willing  to  be  employed  in  a  move- 


Entrance  Upon  Public  Life       1 27 

ment  which  was  growing  in  popularity  in  his  own 
circle. 

In  the  summer  of  1773  Hancock  had  an  oppor 
tunity  to  be  a  party  in  an  affair  which  marvellously 
excited  the  town  and  country.  It  was  not  a  strictly 
creditable  performance  to  obtain  the  letters  of 
Governor  Hutchinson,  Lieutenant-governor  Oliver, 
the  customs-officer  Paxton,  and  of  other  loyalists 
written  to  English  friends,  and  to  send  them  back 
to  Boston,  to  be  used  for  what  they  were  worth 
and  much  more  by  the  revolutionary  party,  on 
the  plea  that  the  end  justifies  the  means.  The 
sagacious  Franklin,  hitherto  held  in  as  high  esteem 
in  Europe  as  in  America,  had  some  exercise  in 
casuistry  for  the  share  he  had  in  obtaining  the 
letters  and  for  the  advice  he  gave  with  regard  to 
making  the  most  of  them  here;  for  which  he  was 
soundly  rated  by  the  solicitor-general  before  the 
Privy  Council.  He  could  reply  that  tampering 
with  the  mails  was  a  part  of  the  postal  service  of 
Great  Britain  and  a  diversion  of  the  king  himself ; 
that  these  very  letters  had  been  shown  to  English 
statesmen ;  and  that  the  writers  of  them  had  taken 
the  same  liberty  with  the  correspondence  of  others. 
It  was  a  practice  which  accorded  with  a  blunt 
sense  of  honor,  shown  in  more  serious  ways  in  that 
loose  age.  Franklin,  charged  with  thievery,  was 
dismissed  from  his  deputy  postmaster  general's 
office,  and  in  consequence  resigned  the  agency  for 
Massachusetts  and  came  home  to  stay  until  he 


128  John  Hancock 

returned  in  1775  as  the  representative  of  a  new 
nation.1 

Political  capital  was  made  of  the  letters  in  Bos 
ton.  John  Hancock,  always  fond  of  a  dramatic 
situation,  was  the  first  to  give  them  publicity  by 
announcing  to  the  Assembly  that  within  eight  and 
forty  hours  a  discovery  would  be  made  which 
would  have  great  results  !  For  two  days  he  en 
joyed  the  wondering  of  the  town  and  the  respect 
of  the  multitude  as  the  possessor  of  a  mysterious 
state  secret  of  vast  importance.  Its  proportions 
grew  as  the  report  of  it  spread  throughout  the 
Province.  Samuel  Adams  added  to  the  wonder 
by  having  the  galleries  cleared  when  the  Assembly 
met,  as  he  had  matters  of  profound  consequence 
to  place  before  it,  and  spoke  darkly  of  a  rumor  that 
letters  had  been  sent  to  England  prejudicial  to 
the  Province  by  men  within  it.  Hancock  con 
tributed  to  the  total  effect  by  saying  that  copies 
had  been  put  into  his  hands  on  the  street,  and  they 
were  no  longer  private.  It  looked  as  if  their 
publicity  was  through  him.  It  has  been  asserted 
that  they  were  obtained  at  first  with  the  under 
standing  that  they  were  to  be  kept  secret.  Adams 
read  them  to  the  Assembly.  A  committee  ap 
pointed  to  consider  them  reported  that  they  were 
"designed  to  overthrow  the  government  and  to 

1  Interesting  comment  on  this  affair,  which  has  had  many  ex 
planations,  can  be  found  in  C.  A.  W.  Pownall's  "Life  of  Governor 
Thomas  Pownall,"  p.  250. 


Entrance  Upon  Public  Life       129 

introduce  arbitrary  power  into  the  Province." 
Outside  curiosity  was  immense,  and  was  fostered  by 
mysterious  exclamations  over  a  secret  which  could 
not  be  told;  but  resolves  about  the  letters  were 
published,  tending  to  exaggerate  the  harm  and 
prepare  the  people  for  the  worst  interpretation 
that  could  be  put  upon  them  when  they  should  be 
printed.  Then  it  was  seen  that  after  all  the  worst 
thing  that  Hutchinson  had  written  was,  in  effect, 
that  in  his  opinion  there  must  be  an  abridgment 
of  English  liberties  in  a  colony  three  thousand  miles 
from  the  parent  state  —  liberties  which  they  might 
enjoy  in  England  where  every  one  is  represented 
in  Parliament  —  a  sentiment  he  had  often  uttered 
in  public.  Letters  of  Oliver  and  Paxton  were 
stronger  in  their  expressions,  but  the  writers  were 
of  less  consequence.  The  proposal  of  one  to  deal 
with  "  incendiaries,"  and  of  the  other  to  have  two 
or  three  regiments  sent,  added  inflammatory 
material  to  the  general  indignation.  Importance 
was  gained  by  Adams  and  Hancock;  but  the  whole 
affair,  as  a  recent  reviewer  of  it  has  remarked, 
was  an  instance  of  a  great  cry  and  little  wool. 
At  this  distance  it  seems  as  if  the  principals  knew 
that  the  doubtful  ethics  in  making  public  use  of 
private  correspondence  must  be  covered  by  an 
extraordinary  exploiting  of  a  necessity  in  order 
to  the  common  weal,  when  it  could  not  have  been 
much  affected  if  the  letters  had  remained  with 
their  recipients,  as  they  would  if  Franklin  had 


130  J°hn  Hancock 

not  obtained  them  and  transmitted  them,  and  if 
Sam  Adams  had  not  magnified  their  importance. 
As  Franklin  suggested  to  him,  the  patriot  leader 
raised  a  mist  around  them  —  which  naturally 
made  them  gigantic  spectres.  Incidentally,  and 
in  the  lapse  of  years,  the  occurrence  showed  how 
trickery  detracts  from  honor  in  a  good  cause, 
dimming  the  final  glory.  If  the  impatient  pro 
moters  of  righteous  discontent  had  waited  a  little 
they  would  have  learned  that  ship-loads  of  prov 
ocation  were  on  the  Atlantic  headed  for  Boston. 

Meanwhile  Hancock's  business  affairs,  great  and 
small,  were  not  wholly  neglected.  Trade  was 
dull,  importations  were  discouraged,  and  his  ships 
returning  with  ballast  only,  "coals,  hemp,  duck, 
and  grindstones."  Goods  were  returned  to  Lon 
don  with  the  message :  — 

"We  can't  always  submit.  It  is  a  true  saying  'Oppres 
sion  will  make  a  wise  man  mad.'"  .  .  . 

And  two  sentences  after. 

"I  have  to  express  my  grateful  acknowledgements  to 
your  Mr.  John  Harrison  for  his  very  genteel  present  of  the 
table  cloth  &  napkins.  They  are  excessive  genteel  and  by 
far  the  best  in  the  Country.  My  Aunt  joins  me  in  her  Com 
pliments  to  you  &  connection  Particularly  to  the  Lady  of 
Mr.  G.  H.  with  every  wish  in  her  favor."  l 

1  As  early  as  1767  Hancock  broke  with  his  London  agents, 
Barnard  and  Harrison.  His  letters  to  them  show  that  he  had  too 
good  an  opinion  of  his  standing  and  credit  to  be  slighted  by  them 
or  to  be  prevented  from  protest  against  oppressive  measures.  For 
these  extracts  see  A.  B.  Brown's  "His  (Letter)  Book,"  pp.  149,  ff. 


Entrance  Upon  Public  Life       131 

In  the  winter  of  1770  he  ships  "Oyl,  Pottashes 
&  whalebone"  to  London  and  calls  for  salt  from 
Lisbon,  sells  his  ship  "John"  and  has  a  new  one 
built  for  the  spring  trade.  But  in  April  he  has 
an  attack  of  "indisposition,"  probably  the  gout, 
but  after  six  months  he  writes:  "with  the  Leave 
of  an  Indulgent  Providence  I  am  not  without  a 
prospect  of  seeing  you  &  my  friends  in  London  by 
the  middle  of  June  next." 

When  that  month  came  he  wrote :  — 

"I  have  been  for  some  time  past  and  still  am  so  engaged 
in  our  General  Assembly  that  I  cannot  now  particularly 
Reply  to  your  last  fav'r.  ...  I  have  delivered  to  Capt. 
Hall  the  Size  of  Glass  with  directions  for  a  New  Meeting 
house  Building  in  this  town  "  — 

Brattle  Street  Church,  the  Hancocks'  place  of 
worship,  whose  corner-stone  bore  the  name  of 
Hon.  John  Hancock  in  recognition  of  his  gift  of 
$1,000,  with  mahogany  pulpit,  furniture,  and 
deacons'  seat,  besides  free  seats  for  poor  widows 
and  others.  He  also  gave  a  Bible  to  a  Church 
in  Lunenburg,  a  bell  to  another  in  Jamaica 
Plain,  a  fire  engine  to  the  town  of  Boston  and 
a  bell  to  the  Brattle  Street  Church  when  it  was 
completed/  He  had  some  time  before  ordered 
from  London 

"as  neat  a  Mahogany  Cabinet  as  can  be  made,  suitable 
for  a  Lady's  chamber,  rather  convenient  than  Remarkable 
for  any  outward  Decorations.  I  would  have  it  very  neat 
&  respectable  as  it  is  for  my  Aunt,  widow  of  my  late  Uncle, 


132  John  Hancock 

with  whom  I  now  Reside,  &  a  Lady  for  whom  I  have  the 
highest  affection  &  Esteem." 

Three  weeks  later  he  orders 

"ioo  squares  of  best  London  glass  18  by  n£  for  the  use 
of  my  own  House  wch,  I  pray  may  be  the  very  best." 

An  honor  which  was  gratifying  to  Hancock's 
military  ambitions  was  his  appointment  "to  be 
Captain  of  the  Company  of  Cadets  with  the  rank 
of  Colonel."  This  company  was  known  as  the 
Governor's  Guard;  and  this  advertisement  straight 
way  appeared :  — 

"Wanted.    Immediately  —  For  His  Excellency's  Company 

of  Cadets. 

Two  Fifers  that  understand  Playing.  Those  that  are 
masters  of  musick  and  are  inclined  to  engage  with  the  Com 
pany,  are  desired  to  apply  to  Col.  John  Hancock." 


CHAPTER  IX 

TAXED  TEA 

THE  very  day  of  the  Boston  Massacre,  so  called, 
Lord  North,  prime  minister  and  leader  of  the 
''king's  friends,"  or  Tory  party,  moved  a  repeal 
of  all  the  Townshend  Act  except  the  tax  upon  tea. 
This  was  to  be  retained  in  order  to  maintain  the 
right  of  Parliament  to  tax  the  colonies,  and  to 
show  the  king's  determination  to  have  his  way.1 
Removal  of  taxes  upon  other  articles,  and  the 
government's  assurance  that  it  "had  never  in 
tended  to  lay  further  taxes  upon  America  for  the 
purpose  of  raising  a  revenue"  quieted  merchants, 
who  kept  their  peace  for  a  while,  and  trade  with 
England2  almost  quadrupled  within  the  next  two 
years,  despite  the  king's  meddling  in  the  province's 
affairs  by  removing  the  Assembly  to  Cambridge, 

1 "  At  no  time  during  the  Revolutionary  struggle  was  it  proposed 
that  the  colonists  should  be  taxed  for  the  support  of  the  home  gov 
ernment,  or  even  for  the  full  support  of  the  armies  in  America."  — 
Van  Tyne,  "  Preliminaries  of  the  Revolution,"  p.  104.  Lord  North 
said  that  Americans  had  no  objection  to  submit  to  the  authority 
of  the  Crown.  It  was  to  the  claims  of  Parliament  that  they  were 
adverse,  objecting  to  being  subjects  of  other  subjects.  —  Marks' 
"England  and  America,"  n,  1057. 

2  Amounting  to  £2,000,000  in  1770. 


1 34  J°nn  Hancock 

interfering  with  its  prerogatives,  dismissing  judges, 
as  in  South  Carolina,  forbidding  hindrance  of  the 
slave  trade  when  Virginia  would  have  discouraged 
it,  asserting  the  right  to  levy  taxes  in  Maryland, 
and  in  enforcing  the  revenue  laws  in  Rhode  Island, 
as  in  the  instance  of  the  "Gaspee's"  seizures. 
All  together,  George  the  Third  was  laying  up 
trouble  for  himself  in  provoking  revolt.  The 
last  indignity  was  reached  when  it  was  proposed 
to  transport  offenders  to  England  for  trial,  the 
authority  for  which  Virginia  appointed  a  committee 
to  inquire  into ;  also  another  committee  to  cor 
respond  with  other  colonies.  Five  colonies  followed 
the  example,  and  the  first  steps  toward  union  had 
been  taken  by  July,  1773. 

This  action  was  seen  to  be  timely  in  the  light 
of  events  which  soon  followed.  The  first  was  the 
arrival  of  three  shiploads  of  tea ;  a  fourth  was  lost 
on  the  shore  of  Cape  Cod.  In  token  of  their 
denial  of  the  right  to  tax  them  without  their  con 
sent  the  colonists  had  abjured  the  use  of  tea, 
although  by  the  removal  of  duties  of  export  its 
cost  was  made  only  half  the  price  in  England. 
It  was  an  attractive  bait  for  loyalty,  thrown  to 
a  thrifty  and  tea-loving  people ;  but  principle  was 
proof  against  even  half-price  tea  —  that  is,  the 
principle  of  the  liberty  party.  The  removal  of 
duties  was  also  designed  to  relieve  the  East  India 
Company,  which  had  an  accumulation  of  17,000- 
ooo  pounds  unsold  in  its  warehouses,  threatening 


Taxed  Tea  135 

a  loss  of  400,000  pounds  sterling  annually  to  the  gov 
ernment.1  But,  although  the  duty  was  remitted, 
the  king  would  not  give  up  his  threepenny 
principle.  He  meant  to  be  a  king  in  all  his  do 
minions,  and  as  Lord  North  said,  "to  try  the 
question  with  America."  He  had  made  it  easy  for 
the  horse  to  come  to  the  trough;  the  beast  had  got 
to  drink.  Nothing  but  the  proverbial  difficulty 
intervened,  namely,  the  brute's  will.  He  had  the 
national  thirst  for  the  beverage,  and  brewed  all 
sorts  of  substitutes.  It  was  sheer  perversity, 
and  this  must  be  overcome.  Accordingly,  in  the 
fall  of  1773,  cargoes  of  the  herb  were  sent  to  the 
principal  towns  along  the  coast.  Agents  and 
consignees  refused  to  receive  it,  and  it  was  stored 
or  sent  back  to  London  from  three  ports.  Boston 
sent  it  elsewhere. 

First,  of  course,  a  town-meeting  was  held, 
swelled  by  the  inhabitants  .of  six  other  towns  to 
a  mass-meeting  in  Old  South,  resolving  that  the 
tea  should  be  sent  back.  The  king's  officials  took 
fright  and  fled  to  the  Castle  for  safety.  Clear 
ance  papers  could  not  be  had;  the  governor 
could  not  let  the  ships  pass  out ;  the  people  would 
not  let  the  tea  be  landed.  On  the  i7th  of  Decem 
ber  it  might  legally  be  seized  and  stored  in  the 
Castle  for  payment  of  duties.  Everybody  knows 

1  Half  the  tea  used  in  Great  Britain  was  contraband,  but  in  the 
Colonies  not  one-tenth  of  this  commodity  paid  duty.  —  Belcher's 
"  First  American  Civil  War,"  i,  18. 


136  J°hn  Hancock 

the  rest,  —  the  "  Mohawks,"  the  broken  chests, 
three  hundred  and  forty- two  of  them;  the  tea 
in  windrows  along  Dorchester  beach  in  the  morn 
ing,  and  great  lamentation  among  the  dames  of 
Boston.  It  was  the  first  price  of  their  patriotism ; 
and  Admiral  Montague  out  in  the  harbor  was 
adding  besides,  "  You've  got  to  pay  the  fiddler 
yet."  Rigby,  Paymaster  of  the  Forces,  said  in 
Parliament  that  John  Hancock  had  superintended 
the  destruction  of  the  tea.  While  Sam  Adams 
was  adjourning  the  meeting  with  the  words, 
"This  meeting  can  do  no  more  to  save  the  country," 
Hancock  was  not  far  from  the  notorious  Captain 
Mackintosh,  leader  of  the  South  End  toughs, 
who  boasted  that  his  "chickens  did  the  job," 
while  Hancock's  Cadets,  the  governor's  guard, 
were  doubtless  in  the  gang,  although  the  governor 
had  recently  notified  their  distinguished  colonel 
to  have  them  in  readiness  for  an  emergency. 

Four  days  after  the  "tea-party,"  December  21, 
1773,  Hancock  wrote  to  his  London  agents  :  — 

"We  have  been  much  agitated  in  consequence  of  the 
arrival  of  the  Tea  Ships  by  the  East  India  Conpany,  and 
after  every  effort  was  made  to  Induce  the  consignees  to  re 
turn  it  from  whence  it  came  &  all  proving  ineffectual,  in  a 
very  few  Hours  the  whole  of  the  Tea  on  Board  Bruce,  Coffin, 
&  Hall  was  thrown  into  the  salt  water.  The  particulars 
I  must  refer  you  to  Capt.  Scott  for;  indeed  I  am  not  ac 
quainted  with  them  myself,  so  as  to  give  a  Detail.  Capt. 
Loring  in  a  Brig  with  the  remainder  of  the  Tea  is  cast  on 
shore  at  the  back  of  Cape  Codd.  Philadelphia  &  York  are 


Taxed  Tea  137 

Determined  the  Tea  shall  not  land.  I  enclose  you  an  ex 
tract  of  a  letter  I  Rec'd  from  Phila.,  by  which  you  will  see 
the  spirit  of  that  people.  No  one  circumstance  could 
possibly  have  taken  place  more  effectively  to  unite  the  Colo 
nies  than  this  manouvre  of  the  Tea.  It  is  Universally 
Resented  here  &  all  people  of  all  ranks  detest  the  measure. 
Our  papers  &  Dr.  Williamson,  who  is  passenger  in  Scott, 
will  inform  you  many  circumstances.  I  Determine  if  my 
Oyle  gets  up  tomorrow  my  Brigt.  Lydia  shall  depart  in  six 
days.  I  shall  recommend  her  to  be  sold."  x 

From  this  point  Hancock's  letters  are  interrupted 
for  three  months  by  illness,  during  which  his 
correspondence  is  conducted  by  William  Palfrey, 
his  confidential  clerk,  afterward  aide-de-camp  to 
Washington  at  Cambridge  and  New  York.  De 
spite  his  ''indisposition"  he  was  again  elected  to 
the  General  Court,  receiving  all  but  two  of  the 
votes  cast.  It  was  a  busy  and  anxious  winter, 
and  its  duties  interfered  sadly  with  his  com 
mercial  affairs,  which  also  suffered  from  the  dis 
turbances  of  the  time. 

By  the  5th  of  March  he  had  recovered  suffi 
ciently  to  bear  a  fresh  honor  that  had  been  thrust 
upon  him.  The  patriot  party  had  made  the 

1  "His  Book,"  p.  178.  Hancock  offered  to  ship  back  to  Eng 
land  at  his  own  expense  such  stores  of  tea  as  were  on  hand  in  Bos 
ton  ;  an  offer  which  was  eagerly  accepted  and  acted  upon.  —  "Be 
ginnings  of  the  Revolution,"  Chase,  I,  168.  If  Hancock  had 
imported  any  tea  and  paid  the  duty  on  it,  as  it  seems  he  had, 
John  Adams  could  say,  "Mr  H.  I  believe  is  justifiable,  but  I  am 
not  certain  whether  he  is  strictly  so."  —  "Diary,"  p.  381.  But  he 
could  also  say  of  his  own  business,  "What  the  deuce  has  a  lawyer 
to  do  with  truth  anyway  ?  "  —  /&.,  p.  396. 


138  J°hn  Hancock 

most  of  the  street  encounter  of  March,  1770.  First, 
they  dignified  it  by  calling  it  a  Massacre,  although 
only  five  were  killed.  Then  they  took  care  to 
revive  and  recall  the  memory  of  it  year  by  year 
on  each  anniversary.1  Two  orators  were  appointed 
the  first  year,  Thomas  Young  and  James  Lovell. 
Joseph  Warren  and  Benjamin  Church  followed 
in  the  two  succeeding  years,  dwelling  upon  the 
first  shedding  of  blood  by  British  soldiers,  upon 
the  wrongs  inflicted  by  the  government,  and  upon 
rights  to  be  maintained  by  Englishmen  in  America. 
The  next  orator  to  be  chosen  was  John  Hancock. 
He  was  the  natural  successor  of  the  last  two  as 
leaders  in  the  revolt,  Sam  Adams  being  always 
first,  although  not  appearing  in  the  list  of  orators 
who  for  thirteen  years  discoursed  on  the  anniver 
sary  of  the  fight,  until  in  1783  the  Fourth  of  July 
took  its  place  as  a  national  celebration.  But 
Adams  was  sure  to  be  behind  the  selection  of 
speakers,  if  not  their  orations. 

1  The  following  vote  was  passed  year  after  year  with  undimin- 
ished  zeal  for  thirteen  years :  — 

"  That  the  Town  make  choice  of  a  Proper  Person*  to  deliver 
an  Oration  at  such  time  as  may  be  Judged  most  convenient  to 
commemorate  the  barbarous  Murder  of  five  of  our  Fellow  Citi 
zens  on  that  fatal  Day,  and  to  impress  upon  our  minds  the  ruinous 
tendency  of  standing  Armies  in  Free  Cities,  and  the  necessity  of 
such  noble  exertions  in  all  future  times,  as  the  Inhabitants  of  the 
Town  then  made,  whereby  the  dangers  of  Conspirators  against  the 
public  Liberty  may  be  still  frustrated."  —  "Boston  Town  Rec 
ords,"  1771,  p.  48.  "John  Hancock  generously  offered  to  put 
the  Orator's  Desk  in  Mourning  on  the  Day  the  Oration  is  to 
be  pronounced."  —  Ib.,  p.  51. 


Taxed  Tea  139 

Hancock's  performance  was  received  with  ap 
preciation  by  his  audience.  It  did  not  lack  au 
dacity,  giving  offence  to  the  governor,  and  partic 
ularly  to  officers  of  the  army,  and  of  course  to 
Loyalists  when  he  touched  upon  matters  beyond 
the  retaliatory  firing  by  the  troops,  as  "the  attempt 
of  Parliament  to  enforce  obedience  to  acts  which 
neither  God  nor  man  ever  authorized  them  to 
make."  His  invective  against  a  preference  of 
riches  to  virtue  had  a  force  which  his  known 
wealth  gave  to  it:  — " Despise  the  glare  of  wealth. 
The  people  who  pay  greater  respect  to  a  wealthy 
villain  than  to  an  honest,  upright  man  in  poverty 
almost  deserve  to  be  enslaved."  It  is,  however, 
as  an  expression  of  the  general  sentiment  of  the 
community  that  the  oration  is  of  value,  and  the 
following  paragraphs  may  stand  for  the  whole:  — 

"  It  was  easy  to  foresee  the  consequences  which  so  naturally 
followed  upon  sending  troops  into  America.  It  was  reason 
able  to  expect  that  troops  who  knew  the  errand  they  were 
sent  upon  would  treat  the  people  whom  they  were  to  sub 
jugate  with  a  cruelty  and  haughtiness  which  too  often  buries 
the  honorable  character  of  a  soldier  in  the  disgraceful  name 
of  an  unfeeling  ruffian.  The  troops,  upon  their  first  arrival, 
took  possession  of  our  senate-house,  and  pointed  their 
cannon  against  the  judgment-hall,  and  even  continued  them 
there  whilst  the  Supreme  Court  of  judicature  for  the  prov 
ince  was  actually  sitting  to  decide  upon  the  lives  and  for 
tunes  of  the  king's  subjects.  Our  streets  nightly  resounded 
with  the  noise  of  riot  and  debauchery;  our  peaceful  citizens 
were  hourly  exposed  to  shameful  insults,  and  often  felt  the 
effects  of  their  violence  and  outrage.  But  this  was  not  all. 


140  J°hn  Hancock 

As  though  they  thought  it  not  enough  to  violate  our  civil 
rights,  they  endeavored  to  deprive  us  of  our  religious  priv 
ileges;  to  vitiate  our  morals,  and  thereby  render  us  deserving 
of  destruction.  Hence  the  rude  din  of  arms  which  broke  in 
upon  your  solemn  devotions  in  your  temples,  on  that  day  hal 
lowed  by  Heaven,  and  set  apart  by  God  himself  for  his  pecul 
iar  worship.  Hence  impious  oaths  and  blasphemies  so  often 
tortured  your  unaccustomed  ear.  Hence  all  the  arts  which 
idleness  and  luxury  could  invent  were  used  to  betray  our 
youth  of  one  sex  into  extravagance  and  effeminacy,  and  the 
other  to  infamy  and  ruin.  And  did  they  not  succeed  but  too 
well;  Did  not  a  reverence  for  religion  decay  ?  Did  not  our 
youth  forget  they  were  Americans,  and,  regardless  of  the 
admonitions  of  the  wise  and  aged,  servilely  copy  from  their 
tyrants  those  vices  which  must  finally  overthrow  the  empire 
of  Great  Britain  ?  .  .  . 

"But  I  forbear,  and  come  reluctantly  to  the  scenes  of  that 
dismal  night,  when  in  such  quick  succession  we  felt  the  ex 
tremes  of  grief,  astonishment,  and  rage;  when  heaven  in 
anger,  for  a  dreadful  moment  suffered  hell  to  take  the  reins; 
when  Satan  with  his  chosen  band  opened  the  sluices  of  New 
England  blood,  and  sacrilegiously  polluted  our  land  with 
the  dead  bodies  of  her  guiltless  sons.  .  .  . 

"Dark  and  designing  knaves,  murderers,  and  parricides! 
how  dare  you  tread  upon  the  earth  which  has  drunk  the 
blood  of  slaughtered  innocence  shed  by  your  hands?  how 
dare  you  breathe  this  air  which  wafted  to  the  ear  of  heaven 
the  groans  of  those  who  fell  a  sacrifice  to  your  accursed  am 
bition  ?  But  if  the  laboring  earth  doth  not  expand  her  jaws; 
if  the  air  you  breathe  is  not  commissioned  to  be  minister  of 
death;  yet,  hear  it,  and  tremble;  the  eye  of  Heaven  pene 
trates  the  darkest  chambers  of  the  soul;  and  you,  though 
screened  from  human  observation,  must  be  arraigned,  must 
lift  up  your  hands,  red  with  the  blood  of  those  whose  death 
you  have  procured,  at  the  tremendous  bar  of  God. 


Taxed  Tea  141 

"But  I  gladly  quit  the  theme  of  death  —  I  would  not 
dwell  too  long  upon  the  horrid  effects  which  have  already 
followed  from  quartering  regular  troops  in  this  town;  let  our 
misfortunes  instruct  posterity  to  guard  against  these  evils. 
Standing  armies  are  sometimes  composed  of  persons  who 
have  rendered  themselves  unfit  to  live  in  civil  society;  who 
are  equally  indifferent  to  the  glory  of  a  George  or  a  Louis; 
who  for  the  addition  of  a  penny  a  day  to  their  wages,  would 
desert  from  the  Christian  Cross,  and  fight  under  the  Cres 
cent  of  the  Turkish  Sultan;  from  such  men  as  these,  what 
has  not  a  state  to  fear  ?  with  such  as  these,  usurping  Caesar 
passed  the  Rubicon;  with  such  as  these,  he  humbled  mighty 
Rome  and  forced  the  mistress  of  the  world  to  own  a  master 
in  a  traitor.  These  are  the  men  whom  sceptred  robbers 
now  employ  to  frustrate  the  designs  of  God,  and  render  vain 
the  bounties  which  his  gracious  hand  pours  indiscriminately 
upon  his  creatures."  [ 

So  far  as  these  quotations  go  the  effect  of  war 
upon  morality,  especially  in  connection  with  the 
presence  of  troops  quartered  in  the  town,  is  a 
principal  part  of  his  theme.  If  it  had  a  purpose 
it  was  to  keep  those  regiments  out  of  the  town  by 
portraying  the  danger  to  some  of  the  citizens  and 
their  families  by  having  them  so  near,  presumably 
to  Loyalists,  as  Patriots  had  no  fear  of  the  wiles 
of  their  foes,  not  even  of  the  gallant  officers  who 
were  not  unwelcome  in  some  Tory  houses. 

The  portrayal  of  the  first  encounter  would 
emphasize  the  animosity  to  be  cherished  and 
maintained  against  British  soldiers,  and  ultimately 
inform  the  home  government  how  they  were  de 
tested,  and  perhaps  foster  a  spirit  of  resistance 
1  For  the  entire  oration  see  Loring's  "Hundred  Boston  Orators." 


142  J°hn  Hancock 

to  their  intrusion,  which  might  be  useful  if  further 
incursions  were  made.  Other  commonplaces  of 
the  occasion  were  treated,  according  to  the  testi 
mony  of  John  Adams,  in  a  manner  beyond  his 
own  and  everybody's  expectation.  Hancock's  ap 
pearance  was  imposing  and  the  impression  most 
favorable.  He  was  a  graceful  and  dignified 
speaker,  already  accustomed  to  large  assemblies 
and  the  trying  duties  of  a  presiding  officer.1 

But  who  had  the  impertinence  to  suggest  that 
Sam  Adams,  who  presided  on  that  occasion  and 
thanked  the  speaker  in  the  name  of  the  town  for 
his  "  spirited  and  elegant  oration,"  had  a  large 
share  in  its  composition?  It  is  not  necessary 
to  suppose  that  he  contributed  anything  beyond 
suggestion  and  revision,  such  as  party  advisers 
have  always  been  known  to  give  their  leaders  on 
important  occasions.  Hancock's  letters  show  that 
some  corrections  would  improve  them;  and  doubt 
less  the  same  was  true  of  his  oration :  still  there 
is  nothing  in  it  that  was  out  of  the  range  of  cur 
rent  thought  at  the  date  of  its  delivery.  Adams 
himself  was  not  a  remarkable  writer  at  first,  but 
by  constant  practice  in  newspapers  that  were 
always  open  to  him  he  at  length  attained  a  pro 
ficiency  which  was  most  serviceable  to  the  cause 
he  championed. 

If  in  his  zeal  to  magnify  Adams  his  great-grand- 

1  "  Sam  Adams  heard  with  admiration  John  Hancock,  who  might 
be  trusted  not  to  fall  below  the  topmost  altitude  of  the  occasion." 
—  Trevelyan,  "American  Revolution,"  n,  276. 


Taxed  Tea  143 

son  biographer  intended  to  honor  him  by  asserting 
that  "it  was  known  to  a  few  that  he  composed 
nearly  the  whole  of  this  oration  for  his  friend," 
he  involved  both  men  in  a  disingenuous  proceed 
ing,  to  say  the  least.1  Unfortunately  he  bases  his 
statement  upon  a  letter  written  thirteen  years 
later,  which  was  lost,  and  upon  the  word  of  Adams's 
daughter  and  a  nephew  who  used  to  say  that  the 
two  patriots  were  often  closeted  together  before 
the  oration  was  delivered.  A  scurrilous  pamphlet 
eer  in  England  also  wrote:  "That  mighty  wise 
patriot,  Mr.  John  Hancock,  has  lately  repeated 
a  hash  of  abusive,  treasonable  stuff,  composed 
for  him  by  the  joint  efforts  of  the  Rev.  Divine, 
Samuel  Cooper,  that  Rose  of  Sharon,  and  the  very 
honest  Samuel  Adams,  Clerk."  And  at  home  the 
Tory  Dr.  Bolton,  in  a  lampooning  oration  the  next 
year,  said  of  the  two:  "But  generous  John  scorns 
to  let  him  (Adams)  starve ;  his  purse  strings  have 
been  at  Sam's  disposal  ever  since  he  assisted  in 
making  the  oration  delivered  by  John,  on  the  5th 
of  March,  1774,  to  a  crowded  audience  of  Narra- 
gansett  Indians."  There  is  some  smoke  here, 
but  how  much  fire  it  is  impossible  to  tell  at  this 
distant  day.  When  it  is  remembered  that  the 
quantity  of  smoke  depends  upon  the  poor  quality 
of  rubbish  thrown  upon  the  fire,  large  allowance 
may  be  made  for  both  the  orator  and  his  adviser. 
It  is  better  to  look  at  the  speech  itself. 

1  Wells's  "Life  of  Samuel  Adams,"  n,  138. 


144  J°hn  Hancock 

It  is  an  illuminating  comment  on  the  state  of 
public  feeling,  and  upon  the  standards  of  oratory 
at  the  time,  that  Hancock's  oration  should  excite 
great  admiration.  Contemporary  testimony  pro 
nounced  him  a  "  graceful  speaker,  self-possessed 
and  dignified,  and  having  a  good  understanding  of 
his  townsmen."  The  address  was  beyond  what 
would  be  expected  of  a  business  man,  although 
he  was  well  educated  and  should  have  been  well 
read  in  the  literature  current  in  New  England. 
If  the  rhetoric  of  the  oration  is  turgid  and  its  tone 
verging  upon  bombast,  the  excited  frame  of  mind 
and  the  unformed  taste  of  the  crowd  which  filled 
Old  South  may  account  for  its  reception  "with 
universal  applause."  It  was  certainly  a  bold 
flight  and  evidently  a  successful  feat  in  oratorical 
aviation,  due  largely  to  the  sustaining  power  of 
a  buoyant  atmosphere  in  a  sympathetic  assembly. 
For  a  first  attempt  the  speaker  had  every  reason 
to  congratulate  himself;  as  he  was  also  admired  and 
commended  by  his  friends.  When  John  Adams 
recorded  that  "the  composition,  the  pronunciation, 
the  action,  all  exceeded  the  expectation  of  every 
body,"  he  included  two  qualities  out  of  three  that 
must  have  been  the  speaker's  own;  and  when 
Hancock  in  closing  pointed  out  Samuel  Adams  as 
"one  of  those  who  should  grace  the  annals  of 
history,"  it  must  be  supposed  that  this  was  a 
sentence  from  his  own  pen  which  Adams  would  not 
have  had  the  assurance  to  write.  If,  again,,  Adams 


Taxed  Tea  145 

was  responsible  for  a  large  part  of  the  speech, 
his  self-complacency  must  have  been  gratified 
when  he  thanked  Hancock  in  the  name  of  the  town 
for  his  oration  and  requested  a  copy  for  publica 
tion.  When  they  next  met  they  may  have  tried 
to  reconcile  a  seeming  inconsistency  by  recalling 
the  needs  of  the  hour.  Perhaps  they  smiled  at 
each  other  as  the  Roman  Augurs  did  when  the 
people  had  gone  away. 

This  effort  in  a  period  of  ill  health  so  taxed 
Hancock's  depleted  energies  that,  when  five  days 
after  he  was  chosen  moderator  of  a  town-meeting, 
he  was  unable  to  preside.  Yet  he  was  again 
elected  one  of  the  Board  of  Selectmen,  also  one 
of  the  firewardens  of  the  town,  a  humble  but 
responsible  office  of  superintending  citizens'  efforts 
at  a  conflagration,  even  to  authorizing  the  blow 
ing  up  of  buildings.  A  greater  honor  was  thrust 
upon  him  May  10,  when  he  was  unanimously 
elected  to  the  General  Court,  with  Gushing,  Sam 
Adams,  and  William  Phillips  as  associates.1  The 
Court  met  a  fortnight  later,  called  together  by 
Governor  Hutchinson  just  before  his  departure 

1  On  July  26  he  was  elected  one  of  the  Committee  of  Safety, 
consisting  of  seven  members,  and  was  by  them  chosen  their  chair 
man.  Their  business  was  "to  consider  proper  measures  to  be 
adopted  for  the  common  safety  during  those  exigencies  of  our  pub 
lic  affairs  which  may  reasonably  be  expected  from  acts  of  the  Brit 
ish  Parliament  altering  the  course  of  justice  and  annihilating  our 
free  Constitution."  The  powers  of  this  Committee  were  large 
and  general.  "Hancock  was  the  most  notable  member."—— 
Trevelyan's  "American  Revolution,"  i,  272. 


146  J°hn  Hancock 

for  England.  Gage  as  his  successor  and  Captain 
General  adjourned  the  Assembly  to  meet  at  Salem 
on  June  9,  by  royal  command,  in  order  to  remove 
all  seditious  elements  out  of  Boston.  Its  port  was 
closed  on  the  first  of  the  month  to  all  incoming 
vessels,  and  after  the  i4th  none  were  to  be  allowed 
to  depart,  not  even  a  ferry  boat  to  Cambridge, 
until  the  town  should  pay  for  the  tea  it  had  pitched 
into  the  harbor. 

It  is  difficult  at  this  distance  to  adjust  the  destruc 
tion  of  12,000  pounds  sterling  worth  of  merchandise 
with  the  noble  aims  of  patriots.  The  mob  was  not 
raised  by  a  sudden  gust  of  fury,  but  was  a  well-or 
ganized  crowd  that  had  time  enough  to  deck  itself  in 
the  toggery  of  savages  and  conceal  the  identity  of 
some  well-known  elements  in  it.  The  only  way  to 
give  it  any  respectability  is  to  assume  that  it  was 
the  culmination  of  a  long  violation  of  oppressive 
revenue  laws.  Trade  and  profits  had  been  in 
terfered  with.  This  outbreak  was  a  protest 
against  taxing  citizens  of  a  great  empire  by  the 
government.  The  excuse  of  non-representation 
in  Parliament  was  a  question  which  in  England 
was  seldom  discussed,  notwithstanding  the  prac 
tical  slighting  of  a  large  part  of  the  population 
in  the  matter  of  franchise.  As  the  laws  and  the 
constitution  stood,  the  justification  of  this  riot, 
as  in  that  which  destroyed  Governor  Hutchinson's 
house,  library,  and  other  valuables,  must  be 
found  in  the  fact  that  it  was  one  step  towards 


Taxed  Tea  147 

independence,  although  unnecessary  and  lawless. 
It  does  not  contribute  to  the  glory  of  the  final 
achievement  as  compared  with  other  pages  of  its 
entire  record. 

Of  course  the  British  government  regarded  the 
outbreak  as  a  bold  defiance  of  its  authority,  and 
the  king  was  irate  that  his  assertion  of  royal 
prerogative  had  been  scorned  by  a  Boston  mob, 
in  which,  as  has  always  been  the  case,  there  was 
more  or  less  of  broadcloth.  Consequently  five 
repressive  measures  were  hurried  through  Parlia 
ment,  —  closing  the  port  of  Boston; l  appointing 
chief  magistrates  by  the  king  and  upper  house; 
hampering  town-meetings ;  sending  persons  to 
England  for  trial ;  and  quartering  troops  upon 
citizens.  A  few  protested  against  taking  away 
the  privileges  in  a  fortnight  which  colonists  had 
enjoyed  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years,  but  the 
majority  of  the  Commons  and  all  the  Lords  voted 
for  the  punitive  measures  to  the  great  delight  of 
the  king.  By  June  i  Boston  harbor  was  blockaded 
with  a  line  of  British  ships  and  in  a  few  days  troops 
and  guns  were  landed.  The  town  was  in  General 
Gage's  hands,  out  of  business  and  practically 
out  of  food.  The  offer  of  wharves  came  from 
Marblehead ;  supplies  and  money  from  towns  and 
cities,  even  from  London  and  Montreal.2  Differ- 

1  For  the  text  of  the  Boston  Port  Bill,  which  annoyed  the  town 
and  all  the  sympathizing  provinces  beyond  everything  else,  see 
MacDonald's  "Select  Charters,"  p.  337. 

2  For  examples  of  relief  from  other  colonies  see  "Mass.  Hist. 
Soc.  Coll.,"  iv,  22,  45,  83. 


148  J°hn  Hancock 

ing  communities  began  to  crystallize  around  the 
idea  of  similar  interests  and  the  need  of  mutual 
assistance.  A  congress  of  the  colonies  was  called 
to  meet  at  Philadelphia.  Rhode  Island  was  the 
first  to  choose  delegates ;  Massachusetts  two  days 
later ;  other  colonies  following  in  the  next  month, 
and  on  September  5,  1774,  fifty-five  deputies  from 
twelve  colonies  constituted  the  first  Continental 
Congress. 


CHAPTER  X 

PROVINCIAL   CONGRESS 

UNDER  the  pressure  maintained  by  men-of-war 
in  Boston  harbor  a  large  number  of  citizens  ad 
vocated  an  indemnity  to  the  East  India  Company  ; 
but  at  a  town-meeting  called  to  consider  the  mat 
ter  no  one  dared  openly  to  sustain  the  proposal. 
Meantime  the  Assembly  at  Salem  was  gradually 
coming  to  a  counter  movement.  This  was  to 
elect  five  delegates  to  meet  those  who  had  been 
or  should  be  appointed  from  other  colonies,  to 
constitute  the  First  Continental  Congress.  It  was 
a  bold  measure,  managed  by  Sam  Adams  with 
great  labor,  skill,  and  secrecy,  and  passed  behind 
closed  doors.  Several  wished  to  escape,  but  Adams 
had  the  key  in  his  pocket.  One  got  out  on  the  plea 
of  illness,  and  straightway  told  the  governor  what 
was  going  on.  Gage's  messenger,  sent  to  dismiss 
the  Assembly,  could  not  obtain  admittance  and 
had  to  read  the  order  to  an  outside  crowd  from  the 
stairway.  Five  delegates  meanwhile  were  chosen, 
• —  James  Bowdoin,  Thomas  Gushing,  Samuel 
Adams,  John  Adams,  and  Robert  Treat  Paine.1 

1  For  members  of  Congress  from  Massachusetts  and  other  col 
onies  see  "Journals  of  Continental  Congress,"  i,  16. 


150  J°hn  Hancock 

The  absence  of  John  Hancock's  name  from  this 
list  is  so  noteworthy  as  to  provoke  inquiry.  When 
the  Assembly  met  at  Salem  Sam  Adams  was 
occupied  with  a  committee  meeting  in  Boston 
and  was  delayed  so  long  that  his  friends,  taunted 
by  Tories  with  the  question,  "  Where  is  your 
leader  ?"  began  to  fear  that  a  report  was  true  which 
was  circulating  that  Adams  and  Hancock  had  been 
arrested  and  were  to  be  transported  to  England 
for  trial.1  At  length  Adams  appeared,  and  order 
ing  a  gold-laced  functionary  out  of  the  secretary's 
chair  proceeded  to  his  clerical  duties.  It  has 
been  said  that  Hancock  waited  to  take  Adams  to 
Salem  in  his  carriage  and  entered  the  hall  with  him. 
If  so,  there  may  have  been  an  understanding  be 
tween  them  as  they  drove  on  the  road  that  Han 
cock  should  remain  in  charge  of  affairs  at  home, 
while  a  less  useful  man  should  complete  the  num 
ber  of  the  delegation  to  Philadelphia.  This  sup 
position  is  strengthened  by  the  circumstance  that 
John  Adams,  who  had  not  been  the  most  ardent 
of  liberty  men,  was  moderator  at  a  town-meeting 
over  which  Hancock  would  naturally  have  presided 
if  he  had  not  been  occupied  elsewhere.  Likewise 
he  may  have  surrendered  a  place  in  favor  of  John 
Adams  as  delegate  to  the  Congress,  which  seems 

1  The  British  general  Mackay  told  Governor  Hutchinson  at 
Bath  in  1 775  that  he  wondered  Hancock  had  not  been  secured.  It 
was  reported  in  England  that  he  had  absconded  on  the  arrival  of 
the  troops;  afterward  found  to  be  untrue.  —  "Diary  and  Letters 
of  Thomas  Hutchinson,"  by  Peter  0.  Hutchinson,  pp.  349,  356. 


Provincial   Congress  151 

to  have  increased  the  devotion  of  the  latter  to 
the  patriot  cause,  as  it  certainly  brought  him  to 
the  beginning  of  an  eminent  career.  Among  prom 
inent  men  who  were  not  delegates  to  the  first  Con 
gress  were  Otis,  Hawley,  Jefferson,  Hamilton,  and 
Franklin.  The  sajne  question  with  regard  to  the 
reasons  why  they  were  not  elected  deputies  might 
be  raised  in  the  case  of  each  one  as  in  the  instance 
of  Hancock.  Absence  from  this  Congress  does  not 
appear  to  have  much  significance. 

In  any  case,  Hancock  was  unusually  busy  during 
the  summer  and  until  the  next  meeting  of  the 
Assembly  in  October,  but  not  with  his  commercial 
affairs,  for  his  ships  were  moored  at  his  wharf  and 
the  warehouse  deserted.  Not  even  a  boat  could 
be  rowed  to  Long  Wharf,  nor  a  scow  from  the 
harbor  islands  with  sheep,  nor  a  Gloucester  smack 
bring  a  load  of  fish.  Provisions  must  come  by 
land  or  not  at  all.  The  Board  of  Selectmen,  of 
which  Hancock  was  a  member,  met  from  week 
to  week  to  consider  many  questions  which  were 
new  by  reason  of  the  blockaded  town's  changed 
condition.  But  when  at  the  request  of  General 
Gage  a  meeting  was  called  to  receive  notice  that 
two  Acts  of  Parliament  recently  passed  forbade 
the  calling  of  town-meetings  without  special 
license  from  the  governor,  Hancock  was  con 
veniently  absent;  and  the  others  were  not  dis 
turbed,  as  they  happened  to  have  two  adjourned 
meetings  on  their  hands  with  the  power  of  further 


152  John   Hancock 

and  indefinite  adjournment,  and  with  enough 
unfinished  business  to  last  through  the  year. 
Hancock  found  plenty  to  do  while  the  delegates 
were  in  Philadelphia  in  September,  and  until  the 
next  meeting  of  the  General  Court  in  October. 

What  Congress  did  in  its  first  session  is  not  so 
immediately  a  part  of  this  story  as  the  acts  of 
the  Second  Congress  the  following  year;  but  the 
sending  of  delegates  from  Massachusetts  was  the 
colony's  contribution  to  an  event  of  great  con 
sequence.  The  inhabitants  of  Boston  were  con 
scious  of  its  importance  and  had  voted  five  hundred 
pounds  for  the  expenses  of  the  deputies.  They 
were  also  profoundly  interested  in  the  spectacular 
departure  of  their  representatives  in  a  coach  and 
four  provided  for  them,  preceded  by  two  white 
servants  mounted  and  armed,  and  followed  by 
four  blacks  in  livery,  starting  near  the  Hancock 
mansion  in  full  view  of  the  British  regiments 
encamped  on  the  Common.  Then  came  a  parting 
dinner,  given  by  compatriots  at  Coolidge's  in 
Watertown,  with  many  words  of  cheer  and  good 
hope.  Another  public  dinner  at  Hartford  six 
days  later,  with  an  escort  to  Wethersfield  where 
"punch,  wine,  and  coffee  were  cordially  and 
genteelly  furnished"  by  Silas  Deane. 

A  company  of  notables  met  them  seven  miles 
this  side  of  New  Haven,  conducting  them  into  the 
town  amidst  pealing  bells  and  booming  cannon. 
There  were  six  days  of  visiting  and  feasting, 


Provincial  Congress  153 

private  and  public,  in  New  York;  a  convoy  of 
carriages  into  Philadelphia,  where  they  had  arrived 
after  a  nineteen  days'  pilgrimage,  "  dirty,  dusty, 
and  tired,"  to  be  quartered  at  "the  most  genteel 
tavern  in  America"  and  entertained  in  company 
with  other  distinguished  persons  from  other 
colonies  for  seven  days  until  Congress  met.  All 
this  and  more  was  a  series  of  sensations  which 
John  Hancock  must  have  regretted  the  loss  of 
when  he  learned  the  details  by-  slow  returning 
letters.  Again  he  might  mourn  over  not  being 
among  the  illustrious  fifty-three  who  met  at  the 
City  Tavern  on  the  fifth  of  September  and  walked 
to  Carpenters'  Hall.  He  certainly  would  have 
been  an  ornament  to  the  assemblage,  outshining 
Samuel  Adams  dressed  in  the  new  suit  which  his 
friends  had  provided  him,  and  to  which  Hancock 
had  doubtless  contributed  liberally.  But  he  could 
not  have  surpassed  Adams  in  the  estimate  which 
had  been  formed  of  this  "chief  of  the  Revolution" 
by  deputies  from  other  colonies,  and  whose  opinion 
was  to  be  strengthened  by  further  acquaintance. 
Strict  Congregationalist  as  he  was,  Adams  made 
a  most  fortunate  stroke  at  the  outset  when  he 
moved  that  "Mr.  Duche,  an  Episcopal  clergyman, 
might  be  desired  to  read  prayers  to  the  Congress," 
thereby  removing  one  great  cause  of  disagreement 
by  waiving  his  own  religious  preferences.1 

1  This  chaplain  afterward,  in  a  letter  to  Washington,  avowed  his 
sympathies  with  the  Loyalist  side. 


154  J°hn  Hancock 

The  doings  of  the  First  Congress,  as  has  been 
remarked,  are  connected  with  the  career  of  John 
Hancock  only  in  a  preliminary  way.  They  were 
preparatory  to  the  next  and  succeeding  meetings 
in  bringing  together  men  of  opposite  prejudices  and 
forming  them  into  a  working  body,  consulting 
about  common  interests  and  dangers,  but  slow 
to  act  with  unanimity.  The  main  acts  agreed 
upon  were  the  Declaration  of  Rights  and  Griev 
ances,  and  an  Association  to  suspend  trade  with 
Great  Britain,  which  became  the  precursor  of 
federal  union.  Incidentally  it  was  revealed  to 
themselves  and  the  British  Government  that  the 
scattered  provinces  would  not  permit  one  of  their 
number  to  be  threatened  or  punished  without 
united  protest  and  resistance. 

As  might  be  expected,  differences  between  colonies 
did  not  disappear  in  the  seven  weeks  of  discussion, 
notwithstanding  the  general  good  feeling,  which 
was  further  promoted  by  the  boundless  hospitality 
of  the  town  and  its  inhabitants.  The  majority 
were  for  keeping  the  union  and  establishing  har 
mony  with  Great  Britain:  the  minority,  repre 
sented  by  Massachusetts  and  Virginia,  advocated 
revolt.  A  test  came  on  the  twenty-third  day  of 
the  session,  when  a  plan  for  proposed  union  was 
presented,  making  a  Colonial  Council  an  inferior 
branch  of  Parliament.  It  came  within  a  single 
vote  of  adoption ;  five  colonies  voting  for  it,  six 
against  it.  What  did  pass  was,  a  vote  to  suspend 


Provincial   Congress  155 

trade  with  Britain,  ^and  to  discontinue  the  slave 
trade.  A  petition  was  addressed  to  the  king 
imploring  redress  of  grievances;  another  to  the 
people  of  Quebec,  inviting  them  to  send  delegates 
to  the  next  Congress;  one  also  to  the  people  of 
Great  Britain,  and  a  memorial  to  all  the  colonists. 
The  main  result,  however,  was  the  forming  of  an 
Association  which  was  to  be  the  beginning  of 
union  between  the  several  independencies  along 
the  coast.  There  was  much  asseveration  and 
protestation  of  loyalty,  and  disclaiming  and 
denying  of  intention  to  separate  from  England; 
also  busy  preparation  for  what  might  happen. 
Washington  wrote  in  October,  1774,  that  inde 
pendence  was  not  desired  by  any  thinking  man 
in  all  North  America;  yet  two  months  before  he 
had  said  that  he  would  raise  a  thousand  men, 
subsist  them,  and  march  at  their  head  to  the  relief 
of  Boston.  Two  months  later  he  was  in  command 
of  such  a  force.  John  Adams's  words  and  Sam 
Adams's  are  two  opposite  statements  of  Massachu 
setts  sentiment,  the  one  for  the  old  order,  the 
other  for  the  new;  and  each  had  his  sympathizers, 
with  constant  shif tings  of  opinion  and  partisans. 
In  that  transition  time  John  Bunyan's  Mr.  Facing- 
Both-Ways  had  here  and  there  a  political  coun 
terpart,  and  Timorous  had  not  a  few.1 

1  Even  such  a  radical  as  Joseph  Warren,  in  his  Massacre  oration 
of  1775,  declared  that  "an  independence  of  Great  Britain  is  not  our 
aim.  No,  our  wish  is,  that  Britain  and  the  colonies,  may,  like 


156  J°hn  Hancock 

Many  went  over  to  the  patriot  side  when  Gage 
precipitated  hostilities  by  ordering  his  troops  to 
seize  the  Province's  stock  of  powder  stored  in 
Charlestown.  Militia  and  volunteers  flocked 
towards  Boston  from  Worcester  and  Hampshire 
counties,  and  from  Connecticut,  but  were  stopped 
by  messengers  from  Boston.  The  governor  had 
summoned  an  assembly  of  the  royal  regulation 
pattern  to  meet  at  Salem,  and  then  countermanded 
the  call.  But  two  hundred  and  sixty  representa 
tives  came  and  resolved  themselves  into  a  Pro 
vincial  Congress  and  adjourned  to  Concord,  where 
John  Hancock  was  chosen  its  president.  He  had 
shown  himself  a  good  presiding  officer;  he  was  a 
most  creditable  person,  a  general  favorite,  a  man 
who  had  been  marked  by  the  home  government, 
and  a  generous  contributor  who  would  make 
further  sacrifices.  Who  else  so  fit  for  the  con 
spicuous  position,  and  who  would  be  more  sensible 
of  it  and  gratified  by  it? 

Removing  to  Cambridge,  the  congress  formed  a 
military  organization  and  appointed  a  committee 
of  safety,  of  which  John  Hancock  was  chosen 
chairman,  with  power  to  call  out  the  militia  and 
procure  military  stores.  They  also  chose  three 
generals  and  ordered  the  election  of  company  and 
regimental  officers.  A  committee  appointed  to 
consider  the  proper  time  to  provide  arms  and 

the  oak  and  the  vine  grow  together."  —  Bancroft's  "Hist.  U.  S.," 

vm,  255- 


Provincial  Congress  157 

ammunition  reported  that  the  proper  time  was 
now.  Expressions  of  loyalty  to  the  home  govern 
ment  were  less  profuse  than  previously. 

After  this  show  of  intention  to  resist  hostile 
advances  the  king  declared  "the  New  England 
governments  in  a  state  of  rebellion." 

The  First  Provincial  Congress  marked  the  pass 
ing  of  legislative  authority  from  the  royal  gov 
ernor,  with  his  council  and  assembly,  to  the  elected 
representatives  of  the  people  in  the  Province  of 
Massachusetts  —  a  prelude  to  future  transfers 
in  other  provinces,  and  at  length  in  all  of  them 
together.  In  their  proclamation  of  an  annual 
Thanksgiving,  issued  over  the  signature  of  John 
Hancock,  mention  of  his  Majesty,  George  the  Third, 
was  for  the  first  time  omitted.  Moreover  the  acts 
of  this  Congress  were  accepted  by  the  people  as  of 
equal  authority  with  those  of  previous  assemblies 
under  the  king's  appointed  representative,  who 
now  in  the  person  of  General  Gage  was  prac 
tically  set  aside.  Accordingly  he  fell  back  upon 
his  military  authority  and  precipitated  the  con 
flict.  The  rift  between  England  and  America 
which  had  been  dreaded  by  many  and  desired 
by  very  few  now  became  plain  to  all. 

In  the  interval  between  the  adjournment  of  the 
first  Congress,  December  10,  1774,  and  the  meeting 
of  the  second,  February  i,  1775,  Hancock  as  a 
selectman  was  occupied  daily  in  devising  means 
for  the  control  of  the  small-pox  which  the  troops 


158  John  Hancock 

had  brought  to  town.  The  disease  was  not  to  be 
suppressed  easily  and  it  gave  the  authorities  great 
anxiety  and  care. 

When  the  Congress  met  again  for  its  second 
session,  with  two  hundred  and  fourteen  members 
present,  Hancock  was  chosen  its  president  by 
unanimous  election.  Within  four  days  he  was 
putting  a  motion  to  direct  Colonel  Roberson 
to  deliver  four  brass  field-pieces  and  two  mortars, 
the  property  of  the  Province,  to  the  Committee 
of  Safety,  which  had  been  appointed  to  resist 
every  attempt  at  executing  the  acts  of  Parliament. 
General  Gage  also  had  his  eye  upon  the  cannon, 
but  when  he  sent  his  officers  to  appropriate  them 
nothing  but  the  gun  carriages  could  be  found. 
In  a  school-house  where  they  were  supposed  to  be 
hidden,  a  box  upon  which  the  pedagogue  Hoi- 
brook  was  resting  his  lame  foot  did  not  look  like 
the  lurking-place  of  field-pieces,  and  the  searching 
party  passed  by  two  of  the  guns.  They  did  good 
service  during  the  war,  to  be  at  length  enshrined 
in  Bunker  Hill  monument,  after  further  use  by  the 
Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery,  which  burst 
one  of  them,  the  " Adams,"  while  the  " Hancock" 
reposes  in  its  original  integrity  with  the  following 
inscription :  — 


Provincial  Congress  159 


THE  HANCOCK: 

SACRED   TO  LIBERTY. 

This  is  one  of  four  cannon  which  constituted  the 

whole  train  of  Field  Artillery  possessed  by  the 

British  colonies  of  North  America  at  the 

commencement  of   the  war  on   the 

1 9th  of  April,    1775. 

THIS   CANNON 

and  its  fellow,  belonging  to  a  number  of  citizens 

of  Boston  were  used  in  many  engagements 

during    the    war.     The    other    two,    the 

property    of     the     Government     of 

Massachusetts,    were   taken   by 

the  enemy. 

By  order  of  the  United  States,  in  Congress  Assem 
bled  May  19,  1788 

In  this  second  Provincial  Congress  Hancock 
was  chosen  to  fill  the  vacancy  made  by  Bowdoin 
in  the  delegation  to  the  Continental  Congress. 
A  larger  field  was  opening  before  him.  Neverthe 
less  he  did  not  fail  to  attend  to  the  affairs  nearest 
him  in  his  own  town.  After  the  Congress  ad 
journed  on  February  16  he  inquired  into  an  affair 
of  the  British  troops  who,  headed  by  their  colonel, 
had  carried  a  back-countryman  through  the 
streets,  tarred  and  feathered.  In  consequence  of 
his  part  in  this  inquiry  his  "  elegant  house  was 


160  J°nn  Hancock 

attacked  by  a  number  of  officers,  who  with  swords, 
cut  and  hacked  the  fence  in  a  most  scandalous 
manner  and  behaved  very  abusively,  by  breaking 
people's  windows  and  insulting  every  person  they 
met.  On  the  following  night  they  entered  his 
grounds  and  refused  to  retire,  telling  the  owner 
that  his  house  and  stable  would  soon  be  in  their 
hands." 

The  second  session  of  the  Second  Provincial  Con 
gress  opened  in  Concord  on  the  22dof  March  with 
Hancock  in  the  chair.  In  eleven  days  news  came 
that  Gage's  army  was  to  be  largely  reenforced. 
The  Congress  appointed  a  day  of  fasting  and 
prayer,  at  the  same  time  authorizing  the  Committee 
of  Safety  to  form  and  pay  six  companies  of  artil 
lery,  urging  the  volunteer  militia  and  minute-men 
to  be  on  the  alert,  but  forbidding  any  act  provoc 
ative  of  hostilities.  Like  their  Cromwellian  an 
cestors  they  trusted  in  Divine  Providence,  and 
like  them  kept  their  powder  dry. 


CHAPTER  XI 

LOVERS  IN   LEXINGTON 

WHEN  the  Provincial  Congress  adjourned  on  the 
1 5th  of  April  Hancock  and  Adams  did  not  go  back 
to  Boston,  but  staid  in  Lexington  with  Parson 
Jonas  Clark,  successor  of  Hancock's  grandfather 
in  the  parish  church.  The  two  patriots  had  been 
guests  at  the  parsonage  during  the  session  of 
Congress  at  Concord,  the  younger  with  better 
reason  than  the  older;  for  his  aunt  Lydia  had 
left  her  home  on  Beacon  Hill  after  Gage's  occupa 
tion  of  the  town,  and  had  taken  refuge  in  the 
Lexington  parsonage. 

About  midnight  of  the  eighteenth  Paul  Revere 
on  his  ride  into  the  country  after  he  had  seen  the 
two  lanterns  in  the  belfry  of  North  Church  brought 
the  message  which  Dr.  Warren  sent,  that  the  in 
habitants  might  expect  a  force  from  Gage  which 
had  started  for  Concord  to  destroy  military  stores.1 
Evidently  the  messenger  knew  the  importance 
of  the  minister's  house  and  where  to  find  the  two 
men  most  prominent  in  affairs.  The  eight  sentries 

1  On  the  object  of  invading  Lexington  and  Concord  see  Force,  iv, 
"American  Archives,"  u,  386,  and  F.  V.  Greene's  "Revolutionary 
War,"  p.  3. 


1 62  J°nn  Hancock 

posted  there  might  have  indicated  the  presence 
of  important  persons;  but  to  their  caution  fo 
Revere  not  to  make  a  noise  he  replied,  "You  will 
have  noise  enough  before  morning."  Before  out 
siders  got  word  Hancock  caused  the  meeting-house 
bell  to  be  set  ringing  for  the  remainder  of  the  night, 
a  signal  understood  throughout  the  countryside, 
calling  together  a  hundred  and  fifty  men  before 
daybreak.  Meantime  he  began  to  clean  a  gun 
and  sword  and  to  put  his  accoutrements  in  order 
with  the  intention  of  taking  command  of  the  men 
collecting  on  the  common.  From  this  he  was  with 
great  difficulty  dissuaded  by  Rev.  Mr.  Clark  and 
Mr.  Adams,  the  latter  clapping  him  on  the  shoulder 
and  remarking,  "That  is  not  our  business;  we 
belong  to  the  cabinet."  It  was  daybreak  before 
Hancock  could  be  persuaded  that  it  was  improper 
for  a  man  in  his  official  position  to  expose  himself 
to  capture  by  British  troops,  who  had  him  and  his 
comrade  in  particular  view  and  had  been  inquiring 
as  to  their  whereabouts. 

When  the  courage  of  Adams  and  Hancock  are 
considered  comparatively,  the  latter  appeared 
ready  to  supplement  his  avowed  sentiments  by 
sacrificing  his  life  as  well  as  his  fortune  for  the 
cause.  Adams,  with  no  property  to  lose,  might 
have  had  greater  devotion  to  liberty,  but  his  en 
thusiasm  for  it,  voiced  in  a  hundred  meetings  and 
penned  in  as  many  newspaper  articles,  did  not 
compel  him  that  night  to  call  for  musket  and 


Lovers  in  Lexington  163 

sword  when  the  enemy  was  approaching.  No 
doubt  his  prudence  was  wise,  and  his  wisdom 
needed  more  in  council  than  his  presence  on 
Lexington  Green  with  the  " embattled  farmers'7; 
but  the  uncalculating  determination  of  Hancock 
to  fight,  regardless  of  his  wealth,  high  station, 
and  great  usefulness  elicits  admiration  for  a  self- 
surrendering  spirit  more  noble,  if  less  wise,  than 
his  companion's  prudence.  For  Adams,  however, 
it  may  be  urged  that  his  withdrawal  from  danger 
was  as  essential  to  the  conduct  and  ultimate  suc 
cess  of  the  movement  as  the  rearward  position  of 
a  general  in  the  field,  where  he  may  be  able  to 
direct  the  storm  of  battle.  At  any  rate,  Adams  had 
a  full  sense  of  his  friend's  importance,  as  he  well 
might  have,  and  also  of  the  need  of  preserving 
both  their  lives  for  further  usefulness.1  And  he 
always  had  a  consciousness  of  how  great  an  advan 
tage  to  the  cause  his  friend  Hancock  could  be  made 
through  his  own  wise  direction. 

There  was  another  element  in  the  resolve  of 
Hancock  to  take  the  field  which  ennobles  his  deter 
mination  and  himself.  To  the  protests  of  Adams 
and  Parson  Clark,  Hancock's  aunt  Lydia  would 
add  her  entreaties,  which  could  not  have  been 
without  weight  with  the  man  who  had  been  as  a 

1 "  The  king  had  excepted  only  from  the  benefit  of  pardon  Samuel 
Adams  and  John  Hancock,  whose  offences  were  deemed  to  be  of 
too  flagitious  a  nature  to  admit  of  any  other  consideration  than 
condign  punishment."  —  "Life  and  Times  of  George  Washington," 
Schrceder  and  Lossing,  n,  748. 


164  Jonn  Hancock 

son  to  her.  But  besides  all  these  protests  of 
prudence  against  endangering  a  valuable  life 
there  was  a  voice  in  the  background  which  was  of 
more  weight  and  efficacy  than  the  rest.  When 
her  chariot  rolled  out  of  Boston  Madam  Hancock 
had  by  her  side  a  niece,  Dorothy  Quincy,  who 
had  for  some  time  been  under  her  care  and  pro 
tection.  The  maiden  was  the  fourth  in  a  succes 
sion  of  the  same  name,  running  through  several 
generations  of  the  Brain  tree  family,  the  last  member 
of  which,  Edmund,  had  lived  in  Boston  on  the 
south  side  of  Summer  Street,  from  1740  to  1752, 
where  the  daughter  Dorothy  was  born,  May  10, 
1747.  Within  five  years  her  father  left  an  unsuc 
cessful  mercantile  business  in  town  and  returned 
to  Braintree  as  a  gentleman  farmer,  to  whose 
homestead  the  principal  men  of  the  Province  were 
attracted  by  five  beautiful  daughters.  Among 
the  notables  came  John  Hancock,  having  in  mind 
Dorothy  Quincy,  ten  years  younger  than  himself. 
Tradition  has  it  that  he  avowed  his  affection  for 
her  before  the  Revolution  broke  out,  and  that 
plans  were  made  to  celebrate  the  wedding  in  the 
north  parlor  of  her  home,  which  had  been  adorned 
with  new  wall  paper  from  Paris,  appropriately 
figured  "with  the  forms  of  Venus  and  Cupid  in 
blue  and  pendant  wreaths  of  flowers  in  red." 
Unfortunately  the  British  arrived  before  the  happy 
day  and  caused  divisions  and  dispersions  of  families 
in  the  chaotic  and  unsafe  years  that  followed. 


Lovers  in  Lexington  165 

Dorothy's  father  took  refuge  with  an  older  daughter 
in  Lancaster,  and  the  girl  herself  was  sufficiently 
approved  by  Madam  Hancock  to  be  taken  into 
her  home  as  the  fiancee  of  her  nephew.  It  was 
this  relationship  between  John  Hancock  and 
Dorothy  Quincy  which  gives  special  emphasis  to 
the  strength  of  his  patriotism  on  the  night  when  he 
could  hardly  be  restrained  from  the  Lexington 
encounter.  In  the  face  of  appeals  by  her  elders 
in  the  household  his  bride-elect  would  not  be 
likely  to  gird  on  his  sword  and  send  him  into  the 
fight.  If  she  had,  he  might  have  reenforced  his 
own  impulse  by  hers  and  gone,  despite  other  coun 
sel  ;  but  as  hers,  if  like  her  aunt's,  would  be  con 
trary  to  his  own  inclination  and  purpose,  it  is  to 
his  credit  that  his  determination  persisted  as  long 
as  it  did.  Moreover  he  might  know  that  the 
capture  of  himself  and  Adams  was  as  much  the 
object  of  the  expedition  as  the  seizing  of  a  few 
military  stores  at  Concord.  Therefore  his  devo 
tion  to  the  cause  of  American  freedom  from  British 
control  was  placed  beyond  the  charge  of  selfish 
ambition  through  his  willingness  to  range  himself 
with  the  yeomanry  of  Middlesex  in  the  first  onset, 
and  to  sacrifice  life  in  addition  to  fortune  in  the 
cause  he  had  championed. 

The  counsels  of  a  wise  prudence  prevailed,  and 
he  allowed  himself  to  be  dissuaded  from  exposure 
to  death  or  arrest.  One  of  the  British  officers 
sent  out  in  advance  of  the  troops  had  been  inquir- 


1 66  J°hn  Hancock 

ing  where  Clark's  tavern  was:  he  should  have 
asked  for  Clark's  parsonage.  When  Adams 
learned  this  he  judged  that  it  was  time  to  take 
himself  and  Hancock  over  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jones's 
house  in  Woburn.  Dorothy  was  looking  out  of 
an  upper  window  watching  the  fight  and  speeding 
their  departure  when  "one  of  the  first  British 
bullets  whizzed  by  her  aunt's  head  as  she  stood 
in  a  door  below  and  struck  the  barn."  A  message 
soon  came  saying  where  the  two  companions  were 
and  inviting  the  family  to  follow  and  bring  a 
fine  salmon  that  had  been  provided  for  dinner. 
It  was  taken  along  and  cooked.  Just  as  the  com 
pany  were  sitting  down  to  it  a  Lexington  man, 
frightened  by  the  troops  returning  from  their 
raid  upon  Concord,  shouted,  "The  British  are 
coming!  The  British  are  coming!"  Leaving  their 
anticipated  salmon,  the  two  patriots  were  conducted 
by  Cuff,  the  parson's  negro,  through  the  woods  to 
Amos  Wyman's  house  in  a  corner  of  Billerica  at 
the  Bedford  line,  where  cold  boiled  pork,  cold 
potatoes,  and  brown  bread  awaited  them.  It  was 
on  this  forced  march  that  Adams  exclaimed, 
"What  a  glorious  morning  is  this!"  referring  to 
the  beginning  of  the  contest  for  liberty.  His 
more  practical  companion,  surveying  no  doubt 
a  resplendent  costume  unfitted  for  such  a  flight, 
asked  the  reason  of  what  appeared  an  ill-timed 
enthusiasm,  which  he  had  attributed  to  the  weather, 
in  his  own  mind  qualified  by  hunger  and  a  hasty 


Lovers  in    Lexington  167 

walk  through  the  pastures  of  Woburn  in  silk  hose 
and  velvet  coat.  Adams's  old  brown  coat  afforded 
no  such  distraction. 

The  British  retreat  to  Boston  under  a  galling 
fire  from  provincials,  with  a  loss  of  two  hundred 
and  seventy-three  killed,  wounded,  and  missing, 
and  of  ninety-three  on  the  American  side,  left 
Lexington  a  safe  place  for  the  returning  fugitives. 
Then  occurred  a  lovers'  quarrel.  Dorothy  had 
left  her  father  in  Boston.  With  a  daughter's 
solicitude  she  intended  to  return  to  him  the  next 
day,  and  told  Hancock  so.  "No,  Madam,  you 
shall  not  return  as  long  as  there  is  a  British  bayonet 
in  Boston."  Her  answer  was  as  spirited  as  might 
be  expected  of  a  Quincy :  "  Recollect,  Mr.  Hancock, 
I  am  not  under  your  control  yet.  I  shall  go  to 
my  father  to-morrow." 1  When  she  gave  an 
account  of  the  contention  forty-eight  years  after 
wards,  she  added,  "At  that  time  I  should  have 
been  very  glad  to  get  rid  of  him."  But  the  matri 
monial  designs  of  Madam  Hancock  were  not  to 
be  thwarted  and  she  kept  the  niece  within  her 
reach.  Therefore  the  two  set  out  on  a  journey 
to  Fairfield,  Connecticut,  when  Adams  and  Han 
cock  took  their  departure  for  Philadelphia,  whither 
they  proceeded  from  the  Provincial  Congress  to 
the  Continental  after  the  Lexington  and  Concord 

1  A  letter  from  Edmund  Quincy  to  his  daughter  Dorothy  may 
be  found  in  the  "Transactions  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massa 
chusetts,"  vi,  319. 


1 68  John  Hancock 

raid.  Had  it  not  been  for  their  prudent  excursion 
to  Billerica  their  journey  might  have  been  to 
London  to  answer  a  charge  of  treason  to  the  realm. 
As  for  Dorothy's  recollection  of  her  early  senti 
ments,  some  confirmation  of  them  appeared  a 
little  later.  However,  allowance  can  be  made  for 
the  disillusions  of  nearly  half  a  century  and  their 
effect  upon  her  memory.1 

1  The  "Dorothy  Q."  of  Holmes's  poem  was  his  great-grand 
mother  and  aunt  of  Mrs.  John  Hancock.  For  an  account  of  the 
" Three  Dorothys "  see  W.  S.  Kennedy's  "Oliver  Wendell  Holmes," 

p.  20. 


CHAPTER  XII 

ON  THE  ROAD  TO  CONGRESS 

ON  the  24th  of  April  the  two  delegates  arrived 
at  Worcester  in  advance  of  three  others,  John 
Adams,  Gushing,  and  Paine,  whence  all  were  to 
proceed  together  under  escort.  Not  finding  the 
rest  of  the  delegation,  Hancock  wrote  in  alarm  and 
uncertainty  to  the  Committee  of  Safety  at  Water- 
town,  whither  the  Provincial  Congress  had  re 
moved  after  the  disturbance  at  Concord. 

"WORCESTER,  April  24,  1775. 
"Monday  Evening. 

"GENTLEMEN: 

"  Mr.  S.  Adams  and  myself,  just  arrived  here,  find  no 
intelligence  from  you,  and  no  guard.  We  hear  an  ex 
press  has  just  passed  through  this  place  to  you,  from  New 
York,  informing  that  the  administration  is  bent  upon  push 
ing  matters;  and  that  four  regiments  are  expected  there. 
How  are  we  to  proceed  ?  Where  are  our  brethren  ?  Surely, 
we  ought  to  be  supported.  I  had  rather  be  with  you;  and, 
at  present,  am  fully  determined  to  be  with  you,  before  I 
proceed.  I  beg,  by  return  of  this  express,  to  hear  from  you, 
and  pray,  furnish  us  with  depositions  of  the  conduct  of  the 
troops,  the  certainty  of  their  firing  first,  and  every  cir 
cumstance  relative  to  the  conduct  of  the  troops  from  the 
igth  instant,  to  this  time,  that  we  may  be  able  to  give  some 
account  of  matters  as  we  proceed,  especially  at  Philadelphia, 


170  John  Hancock 


also,  I  beg  you  would  order  your  secretary  to  make  out  an 
account  of  your  proceedings  since  what  has  taken  place; 
what  your  plan  is;  what  prisoners  we  have,  and  what  they 
have  of  ours;  who  of  note  was  killed,  on  both  sides;  who 
commands  our  forces  &c. 

"Are  our  men  in  good  spirits?  For  God's  sake  do  not 
suffer  the  spirit  to  subside,  until  they  have  perfected  the 
reduction  of  our  enemies.  Boston  must  be  entered;  the 
troops  must  be  sent  away,  .  .  .  Our  friends  are  valuable, 
but  our  country  must  be  saved.  I  have  an  interest  in  that 
town.  What  can  be  the  enjoyment  of  that  town  if  I  am 
obliged  to  hold  it  at  the  will  of  Gen.  Gage  or  any  one  else  ? 
I  doubt  not  your  vigilance,  your  fortitude,  and  resolution. 
Do  let  us  know  how  you  proceed.  We  must  have  the  Castle. 
Stop  up  the  harbor  against  large  vessels  coming.  You  know 
better  what  to  do  than  I  can  point  out.  Where  is  Mr. 
Gushing  ?  Are  Mr.  Paine  and  Mr.  John  Adams  to  be  with 
us?  What  are  we  to  depend  upon?  We  travel  rather  as 
deserters,  which  I  will  not  submit  to.  I  will  return  and 
join  you,  if  I  cannot  detain  this  man,  as  I  want  much  to 
hear  from  you.  How  goes  on  the  Congress  ?  Who  is  your 
president?  Are  the  members  hearty?  Pray  remember 
Mr.  S.  Adams  and  myself  to  all  friends.  God  be  with  you. 

"I  am,  gentlemen,  your  faithful  and  hearty  countryman 

"JOHN  HANCOCK. 

"To  the  Gentlemen  Committee  of  Safety." 

After  three  days  of  waiting  Adams  and  Hancock 
left  Worcester,  reaching  Hartford  in  two  days, 
on  Saturday  the  2gth.  There  they  held  a  con 
ference  with  Governor  Trumbull"  and  planned 
the  surprise  of  Fort  Ticonderoga,  which  was  effected 
by  Ethan  Allen,  accompanied  by  Benedict  Arnold, 
on  the  gth  of  May.  New  York  also  had  the  same 


On  the  Road  to  Congress        171 

purpose  in  mind  when  its  Committee  of  Safety 
voted,  "That  as  Messrs.  Adams  and  Hancock 
are  daily  expected  in  this  city,  the  Committee  of 
Correspondence  and  Intelligence  wait  on  them  and 
request  a  private  conference  on  the  subject  of  the 
above  letter,"  which  the  Albany  Committee  had 
sent  them.  But  Connecticut,  Massachusetts,  and 
Vermont  troops  got  the  start  of  New  York,  and  the 
next  morning  after  the  conference  the  fort  was 
taken  before  the  commander  was  fairly  awake. 

When  Adams  and  Hancock  reached  King's 
Bridge  on  Saturday,  May  6,  they  found  that  the 
rest  of  their  delegation  had  passed  them  some 
where  on  the  way  and  had  arrived  before  them. 
John  Adams,  who  had  been  ill  with  a  fever,  wrote  in 
his  Diary:  "I  was  determined  to  go  as  far  as  I 
could,  and  instead  of  venturing  on  horseback,  I 
got  into  a  sulky  attended  by  a  servant  on  horseback, 
and  proceeded  on  the  journey.  I  overtook  my 
colleagues  before  they  reached  New  York."  At 
King's  Bridge  they  were  joined  by  the  Connecticut 
delegation,  and  made  their  entry  into  New  York 
in  the  manner  described  by  Hancock  in  the  follow 
ing  letter  to  Dorothy  Quincy. 

"NEW  YORK,  Sabbath  Even'g,  May  7,  1775. 
"My  DEAR  DOLLY: 

"I  Arrived  well,  tho'  Fatigued,  at  King's  Bridge  at  Fifty 
Minutes  after  Two  o'clock  yesterday,  where  I  found  the 
Delegates  of  Massachusetts  and  Connect',  with  a  Number 
of  Gentlemen  from  New  York,  and  a  Guard  of  the  Troop. 


172  John  Hancock 

I  Din'd  and  then  set  out  in  the  Procession  for  New  York, 
the  Carriage  of  your  humble  servant  of  course  being  first 
in  the  Procession.  When  we  Arriv'd  within  three  Miles 
of  the  City  we  were  Met  by  the  Grenadier  Company  and 
Regiment  of  the  City  Militia  under  Arms,  Gentlemen  in 
Carriages  and  on  Horseback,  and  many  Thousand  of  Per 
sons  on  Foot,  the  Roads  filPd  with  people,  and  the  greatest 
Cloud  of  Dust  I  ever  saw.  In  this  Scituation  we  Entered 
the  City,  and  passing  thro'  the  Principal  Streets  of  New 
York  amidst  the  Acclamations  of  Thousands  were  set  Down 
at  Mr.  Francis's.  After  Entering  the  House  three  Huzzas 
were  Given,  and  the  People  by  Degrees  Dispersed. 

"When  I  got  within  a  mile  of  the  City  my  Carriage  was 
stopt,  and  Persons  appearing  with  proper  Harnesses  in 
sisted  upon  Taking  out  my  Horses  and  Dragging  me  into 
and  through  the  City,  a  Circumstance  I  would  not  have 
had  Taken  place  upon  any  consideration,  not  being  fond  of 
such  Parade. 

"I  Beg'd  and  Intreated  that  they  would  Suspend  the 
Design,  and  ask'd  it  as  a  favour,  and  the  Matter  Subsided, 
but  when  I  got  to  the  Entrance  of  the  City,  and  the  Numbers 
of  Spectators  increas'd  to  perhaps  Seven  Thousand  or  more, 
they  Declar'd  they  would  have  the  Horses  out  and  would 
Drag  me  through  the  City.  I  repeated  my  Request,  and 
I  was  obliged  to  apply  to  the  Leading  Gentlemen  in  the  pro 
cession  to  intercede  with  them  not  to  Carry  their  Designs 
into  Execution;  as  it  was  very  disagreeable  to  me.  They 
were  at  last  prevail'd  upon  and  I  preceded.  I  was  much 
obliged  to  them  for  their  good  wishes  and  Opinion,  in  short 
no  Person  could  possibly  be  more  notic'd  than  myself. 

"After  having  Rode  so  fast  and  so  many  Miles  you  may 
well  think  I  was  much  Fatigu'd,  but  no  sooner  had  I  got 
into  the  Room  of  the  House  we  were  Visited  by  a  great 
number  of  Gentlemen  of  the  first  Character  in  the  city,  who 
Took  up  the  Evening. 


On  the  Road  to  Congress       173 

"About  10  o'clock  I  Sat  down  to  Supper  of  Fried  Oysters, 
&c.,  at  ii  o'clock  went  to  Capt.  Sears's  (the  King's  Inn)  and 
Lodg'd.  Arose  at  5  o'clock,  went  to  the  House  first  men 
tioned,  Breakfasted,  Dress'd,  and  went  to  Meeting,  where 
I  heard  a  most  excellent  Sermon  by  Mr.  Livingston,  Re 
turned  to  the  same  House,  a  most  Elegant  Dinner  provided. 

"The  Grenadier  Company  of  the  City  is  to  Continue 
under  Arms  during  our  stay  here,  and  we  have  a  guard  of 
them  Night  and  Day  at  our  Doors.  This  is  a  sad  mortifica 
tion  for  the  Tories,  things  look  well  here. 

"Tomorrow  morning  propose  to  Cross  the  Ferry.  We 
are  to  have  a  large  Guard  in  several  Boats  and  a  Number 
of  the  City  Gentlemen  will  attend  us  over.  I  can't  think 
they  will  Dare  attack  us. 

"I  beg  you  will  write  me.  Do  acquaint  me  every  Cir 
cumstance  Relative  to  that  Dear  Aunt  of  Mine;  write 
Lengthy  and  often.  Mr.  Nath.  Barrett  and  Mr.  Buck  are 
here.  People  move  slowly  out,  they  tell  me,  from  Boston. 
My  best  Respects  to  mr.  and  Mrs.  Burr.  My  poor  Face  and 
Eyes  are  in  a  most  shocking  scituation,  burnt  up  and  much 
swell'd  and  a  little  painfull.  I  don't  know  how  to  manage 
with  it. 

"Is  your  Father  out  ?  As  soon  as  you  know,  do  acquaint 
me,  and  send  me  the  letters,  and  I  will  then  write  him. 
Pray  let  me  hear  from  you  by  every  Post.  God  bless  you 
my  Dr  Girl,  and  believe  me  most  Sincerly, 

"Yours  most  Affectionately, 

"JOHN  HANCOCK."  l 

On  Wednesday,   the   loth,  the  delegates  from 

1UN.  E.  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,"  xix,  135. 
The  orthography  of  the  eighteenth  century  does  not  denote 
illiteracy  in  a  time  when  modes  of  spelling  were  optional,  and 
every  man  did  that  which  was  right  in  his  own  eyes,  —  a  condition 
which  threatens  to  return  in  trolley-car  advertising  and  elsewhere. 
See  "Letters  of  James  Murray,  Loyalist,"  p.  153. 


174  J°hn  Hancock 

Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  New  York,  four 
teen  in  all,  proceeded  on  their  triumphal  progress 
towards  Philadelphia.  A  great  crowd  attended 
them  to  the  North  River  ferry,  over  which  they  were 
escorted  by  five  hundred  gentlemen  and  two 
hundred  militia  under  arms.  On  the  New  Jersey 
side  a  number  of  gentlemen,  a  troop  of  horse,  and  a 
company  of  grenadiers  accompanied  them  to 
Newark,  where  they  were  publicly  entertained.1 
Then  they  were  escorted  to  Elizabethtown,  at  the 
border  of  which  they  were  met  and  conducted 
into  the  place  by  its  chief  citizens  and  the  military. 
Similar  honors  attended  them  all  the  way  to 
Philadelphia.  The  following  account  by  Curwen, 
the  Tory,  in  his  " Journal"  of  May  10,  1775, 
gives  a  graphic  but  not  entirely  flattering  picture 
of  the  last  stage  of  the  journey. 

"Early  in  the  morning  a  great  number  of  persons  rode 
out  several  miles,  hearing  that  the  Eastern  delegates  were 
approaching,  when,  about  eleven  o'clock  the  cavalcade 
appeared  (I  being  near  the  upper  end  of  Fore  Street);  first, 
two  or  three  hundred  gentlemen  on  horseback,  preceded,  how 
ever,  by  the  newly  chosen  city  military  officers,  two  and  two, 
with  drawn  swords,  followed  by  John  Hancock  and  Samuel 
Adams  in  a  phaeton  and  pair,  the  former  looking  as  if  his 
journey  and  high  living,  or  solicitude  to  support  the  dignity 
of  the  first  man  in  Massachusetts,  had  impaired  his  health. 
Next  came  John  Adams  and  Thomas  Gushing  in  a  single 
horse  chaise;  behind  followed  Robert  Treat  Paine,  and  after 
him  the  New  York  delegation  and  some  from  the  Province 

1  "I  drank  Madeira  at  a  great  rate,  and  found  no  inconvenience 
in  it."  — John  Adams's  "Diary,"  p.  381. 


On  the  Road  to  Congress      175 

of  Connecticut  etc.  etc.  The  rear  was  brought  up  by  a  hun 
dred  carriages,  the  streets  crowded  with  people  of  all  ages, 
sexes,  and  ranks.  The  procession  marched  with  a  slow, 
solemn  pace.  On  its  entrance  into  the  city,  all  the  bells 
were  set  ringing  and  chiming,  and  every  mark  of  respect 
that  could  be  was  expressed,  not  much,  I  presume,  to  the 
secret  liking  of  their  fellow-delegates  from  the  other  Colo 
nies,  who  doubtless  had  to  digest  the  distinction  as  best  they 
could." 

It  was  all  dear  to  Hancock's  heart,  but  not  to 
Samuel  Adams's,  who  with  his  democratic  pro 
clivities  did  not  favor  such  parade ;  as  indicated 
by  the  account  of  another  and  similar  occasion :  — 

"The  people  were  attempting  to  take  the  horses  from 
the  carriage  in  order  to  drag  it  themselves.  Mr.  Adams 
remonstrated  against  it.  His  companion,  pleased  with  the 
intended  compliment,  was  desirous  of  enjoying  it,  and  en 
deavored  to  remove  the  objection  of  Mr.  Adams,  to  which 
the  last  replied :  'If  you  wish  to  be  gratified  with  so  humili 
ating  a  spectacle,  I  will  get  out  and  walk,  for  I  will  not  coun 
tenance  an  act  by  which  my  fellow-citizens  shall  degrade 
themselves  into  beasts.'  This  prevented  its  execution." 

John  Adams's  sense  of  the  performance  as  re 
corded  in  a  letter  to  his  wife  is  characteristic  of  a 
man  who  wasted  no  compliments :  — 

"P.  S.  I  wish  I  had  given  you  a  complete  history  from 
the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  journey,  of  the  behavior  of 
my  compatriots.  No  mortal  tale  can  equal  it.  I  will  tell 
you  in  the  future,  but  you  shall  keep  it  a  secret.  The 
fidgets,  the  whims,  the  caprice,  the  vanity,  the  superstition, 

the  irritability  of  some  of  us  is  enough  to 

"Yours." 

How  he  might  have  finished  the  sentence  can 


ij6  John  Hancock 

be  imagined  from  other  letters,  one  to  Warren, 
for  instance,  in  which  he  wrote:  "A  certain 
great  fortune  and  piddling  genius,  whose  fame  has 
been  trumpeted  so  loudly,  has  given  a  silly  cast  to 
our  whole  doings." 1  And  again,  of  General  Lee : 
"He  is  a  queer  creature,  but  you  must  love  his  dogs 
if  you  love  him,  and  forgive  a  thousand  whims 
for  the  sake  of  the  soldier  and  the  scholar." 

It  is  fortunate  that  in  the  absence  of  other  side 
lights  on  this  period  the  "Diary"  of  John  Adams  is 
available,  as  well  as  the  "Familiar  Letters"  to  and 
from  his  wife.  It  is  unfortunate  that  similar  cor 
respondence  by  less  dogmatic  and  unsparing  critics 
of  this  episode  should  not  have  been  preserved. 

*Not  so  bad  as  the  Virginia  Tory  who  wrote:  "Hancock  is 
one  of  the  greatest  desperadoes  living."  —  Hosmer's  "Life  of  Sam 
uel  Adams,"  p.  311. 

But  all  congressmen  were  glad  enough  to  have  Hancock  furnish 
his  coach  and  equipage  when  the  first  French  Minister  arrived  to 
convey  him  in  state  from  the  ship  to  the  hall  where  they  were  assem 
bled.  Henry  Marchant  of  Rhode  Island  thought  that  "the  most 
interesting  interview  that  ever  took  place  was  that  between  the 
French  plenipotentiary  and  John  Hancock."  He  did  not  fail  to 
observe  that  when  he  was  formally  received  by  Congress  "the 
chairs  of  the  President  and  the  Minister  were  of  equal  size." 
—  "  France  in  the  American  Revolution,"  J.  B.  Perkins,  p.  252.  < 


CHAPTER  XIII 

IN   THE  SECOND  CONTINENTAL  CONGRESS 

THE  fellow  pilgrims  arrived  in  Philadelphia 
on  the  day  that  the  Second  Congress  assembled, 
May  10,  1775,  a  few  hours  after  the  surrender  of 
Ticonderoga,  of  which  Hancock  would  not  hear 
for  eight  days.  Did  he  remember  that  it  was 
also  Dorothy  Quincy's  twenty-eighth  birthday?1 
Doubtless  there  were  numerous  distractions  in 
Carpenters'  Hall.  He  met  there  men  whose  names 
were  familiar  in  all  the  land,  as  distinguished  in 
their  several  provinces  as  his  own  in  Massachusetts : 
Franklin,  Washington,  Richard  Henry  Lee,  Peyton 
Randolph,  to  be  joined  later  by  Patrick  Henry, 
Clinton,  Jay,  Livingston,  and  others  of  like  emi 
nence.  Hancock's  fame  had  preceded  him  as  the 
loser  of  the  sloop  "Liberty,"  and  as  the  one  wealthy 
aristocrat  who  had  sacrificed  much  for  the  cause  of 
the  colonies,  a  leader  and  chairman  of  the  Massa 
chusetts  Congress,  the  co-partner  of  Samuel  Adams 

1  At  this  time  his  mansion  was  occupied  by  General  Clinton, 
who  had  arrived  with  Howe  and  Burgoyne  in  May,  1775,  and  had 
taken  up  his  residence  in  the  Hancock  house.  During  the  next 
winter  the  1750  British  soldiers  encamped  in  front  of  it  took  the 
fence  for  fire  wood.  —  "Boston  Common  —  Scenes  from  Four 
Centuries,"  Howe,  p.  40. 


178  John  Hancock 

in  exclusion  from  royal  clemency,  and  with  him 
the  object  of  pursuit  in  order  to  arrest  by  the 
king's  officers.  For  these  reasons  and  for  the 
distinction  of  his  personal  presence,  from  which  the 
elegance  of  his  attire  did  not  detract,  he  was  a  con 
spicuous  figure  in  the  Assembly.  Not  even  Sam 
Adams  in  his  new  suit,  about  which  he  had  so  many 
scruples  as  to  whether  its  cost  should  be  defrayed 
by  the  Province,  —  to  which  he  finally  assented,  — 
—  not  even  the  " Incendiary"  himself  was  so 
noticeable  as  his  companion.  But  Adams  had  no 
jealousy  of  Hancock's  exterior  brilliance;  and 
when  Randolph  was  called  home  to  preside  over 
the  Virginia  Legislature,1  leaving  vacant  the  pre 
siding  officer's  chair,  Adams  was  ready  to  nominate 
his  colleague  to  the  presidency  of  Congress,  and  with 
John  Adams  to  solicit  votes  for  him.  His  election 
on  the  sixteenth  day  of  the  session  was  considered 
a  rebuke  to  George  the  Third  and  his  Parliament, 
and  as  an  indication  of  general  sympathy  with  the 
Boston  patriot  who  had  forsaken  the  loyalist  posi 
tion  to  which  he  had  been  committed  by  political 
and  social  associations.2  A  great  honor  had  been 

1  Not  on  account  of  sickness,  as  sometimes  stated.     See  "Jour 
nals  of  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses,"  1773-1776,  p.  174. 

2  The  authentic  record  of  his  election,  as  distinguished  from 
later  additions,  is  found  in  the  "Journal  of  Continental  Congress," 
for  May  24, 1775,11,  59. 

On  the  second  day  of  the  session  Hancock  laid  before  Congress 
testimonials  relative  to  the  battle  of  Lexington  and  other  papers 
referring  to  the  course  of  events  in  Massachusetts.  Guy  Carle- 
ton  Lee's  "History  of  North  America,"  vi,  120. 


Second  Continental  Congress     179 

bestowed  upon  him  in  fitting  recognition  of  his  sac 
rifices  to  the  cause  of  protest  and  revolt.  Hitherto 
he  had  accepted  promotion  gracefully,  if  not  as  a 
matter  of  course  in  his  own  Province,  but  now 
he  was  embarrassed  by  the  magnitude  of  the  dis 
tinction  conferred  upon  him,  and  his  usual  self- 
composure  did  not  return  until  Benjamin  Harrison 
had  conducted  him  to  the  chair  amidst  general 
acclamation,  saying  as  he  left  him  there,  "We 
will  show  Great  Britain  how  much  we  value  her 
proscriptions. " 

If  Hancock  had  not  already  proved  his  ability  as 
a  parliamentarian  neither  of  the  Adamses  would 
have  risked  his  reputation  as  an  adviser  by  advocat 
ing  ..his  election;  but  his  experience  and  success  as 
moderator  in  Boston  town-meetings  and  as  presi 
dent  of  the  Massachusetts  Provincial  Congress 
warranted  his  recommendation  by  his  friends,  as 
his  reelection  by  the  Congress  afterward  was  an 
endorsement  of  their  advocacy. 

The  task  before  him  was  a  severe  test  of  his 
fitness,  since  it  was  no  ordinary  body  over  which 
he  was  called  to  preside.  Men  were  in  it  who  were 
of  greater  ability  than  himself,  leaders  in  Provinces 
which  had  jealousies  and  prejudices ;  men  of  widely 
divergent  views  in  politics,  religion,  and  in  regard 
to  the  attitude  to  be  assumed  toward  the  mother 
country,  and  directly  opposed  to  his  own  and  the 
Massachusetts  delegation's  holding.  Even  if  there 
had  been  the  semblance  of  harmony  there  was  no 


180  John  Hancock 

supreme  authority  vested  in  the  assembly  itself. 
It  was  doubtful  whether  or  not  their  sense  of  oppres 
sion  by  England  was  equal  to  their  affection  for  her ; 
and  independence  did  not  seem  to  all  to  be  the  only 
means  of  securing  their  inherited  rights.  The  old 
was  better  than  the  untried  and  dangerous  new.1 
The  main  business  of  the  majority  was  to  consult 
on  possibilities  of  consolidation,  since  refusal  to 
trade  with  Great  Britain  was  their  only  means  of 
practical  protest  against  its  oppressive  acts. 
They  were  merely  deputies  from  twelve  separate 
colonies,  without  authority  to  legislate  for  one 
another,  without  executive  powers  or  officers, 
without  credit  to  borrow  money,  or  right  to  lay 
a  tax,  representing  the  chaotic  opinions  of  four 
races,  and  hampered  by  the  sentiments  or  instruc 
tions  of  their  several  constituencies.  All  that 
could  keep  centrifugal  forces  from  scattering  these 
twelve  units  was  the  pressure  of  royal  encroachment 
without  and  the  central  attraction  of  freedom  from 
British  rule  within.  Even  then  indecision  and 

1  The  colonists'  love  of  their  mother  country  as  an  element  in 
the  struggle  is  well  set  forth  by  Bancroft  in  "History  of  U.S.," 
vu,  356.  It  is  further  illustrated  by  an  address  from  Con 
gress  to  the  Lord  Mayor  and  citizens  of  London  in  July,  1775  : 
"  A  cruel  war  has  at  length  been  opened  up  against  us,  and 
whilst  we  purpose  to  defend  ourselves  like  the  descendants  of 
Britons,  we  still  have  hope  that  the  mediation  of  wise  and  good 
citizens,  will  at  length  prevail  over  despotism,  and  restore  harmony 
and  peace,  on  permanent  principles,  to  an  oppressed  and  divided 
empire."  (Signed)  "JOHN  HANCOCK."  —  "Journals  of  Continen 
tal  Congress,"  n,  17. 


Second  Continental  Congress     181 

wavering  prevailed  for  weeks.  Conservatism  ruled, 
and  what  progress  was  made  was  like  that  of  cattle 
holding  back  against  the  downhill  force  of  gravity ; 
to  many  seeming  a  veritable  descensus  averni  to  a 
civil  purgatory. 

The  chairman  of  this  heterogeneous  and  non 
commissioned  assemblage  had  to  deal  fairly  and 
courteously  with  men  from  all  along  the  coast, 
whatever  his  own  predilections  were,  and  they 
were  strong.  The  hesitation,  timorousness,  and 
sometimes  the  Tory  bias  of  here  one  and  there 
another  must  have  ruffled  the  spirit  of  a  man  who, 
to  clear  out  British  invaders,  could  say,  "Burn 
Boston  and  make  John  Hancock  a  pauper."  He 
must  have  chafed  inwardly  when,  after  war  had 
broken  out,  men  were  so  blinded  by  the  hope  of 
reconciliation  that  no  measure  for  the  prosecution  of 
hostilities  could  be  carried  unanimously  until  a 
second  petition  to  the  king  had  met  with  rebuff. 
His  own  delegation  even  could  not  urge  immediate 
and  drastic  action  because  the  people  of  Massa 
chusetts  were  regarded  by  the  lower  colonies  as 
radicals  in  politics  and  fanatics  in  religion.1  Yet 
there  was  a  growing  admiration  of  their  conduct 
under  the  tyranny  of  the  Port  Bill  and  of  their 

1  The  influences  that  made  for  isolation  and  separatism  can  be 
understood  when  it  is  remembered  that  Boston  was  four  days  from 
New  York  and  seven  from  Philadelphia  in  1765.  Captain  Derby 
was  only  twenty-seven  days  in  carrying  the  news  of  the  Lexington 
fight  to  England  in  the  "Quero"  schooner  of  sixty- two  tons  burden. 


1 82  John  Hancock 

bravery  at  Lexington  and  Concord.  It  was  no 
slight  responsibility  for  the  President  to  appoint 
acceptable  committees  on  so  important  matters  as 
the  declaration  of  independence,  articles  of  con 
federation,  and  a  treaty  with  France.  Whoever 
may  have  advised,  he  himself  had  to  bear  the  inevi 
table  censure  from  some  sources  of  criticism. 
Wisdom  in  the  chair  or  behind  it  must  have  dic 
tated  the  choice  of  Jefferson,  John  Adams,  Franklin, 
Roger  Sherman,  and  Livingston  to  formulate  the 
Declaration.  Jefferson  at  the  head  of  this  com 
mittee  had  succeeded  Peyton  Randolph,  being  sent 
to  rival  and  supplant  Richard  Henry  Lee,  who  was 
not  agreeable  to  most  of  his  colleagues  from  Virginia, 
although  a  masterly  orator  and  debater  and  the 
mover  of  the  Declaration.  But  Jefferson,  who  sel 
dom  opened  his  lips  in  Congress,  held  a  facile  pen ; 
and  John  Adams,  who  was  next  on  the  committee, 
would  not  undertake  to  compose  the  document, 
having  no  opinion  of  his  own  literary  style.1  Ac 
cordingly  Jefferson  drew  up  the  Declaration  and 
reported  it  to  the  committee,  two  of  whom,  Adams 
and  Franklin,  suggested  a  few  changes,  and  Congress 
cut  out  about  a  quarter  of  it,  including  the  con 
demnation  of  negro  slavery,  obliterating,  as  Adams 
thought,  the  best  of  it  and  leaving  objectionable 
portions.  The  committees  on  articles  of  confedera- 

1  Adams's  spirited  account  of  the  exchange  of  civilities  on 
this  matter  between  himself  and  Jefferson  may  be  found  in  his 
"Works,"  n,  514. 


Second  Continental  Congress     183 

tion,  and  on  the  treatyvwith  France  were  equally 
well  chosen;  Samuel  Adams  being  the  principal 
member  of  the  first,  and  Franklin  of  the  second.1 

There  were  other  committees  to  appoint,  and 
debates  to  be  listened  to  with  unruffled  mien; 
for  example,  on  the  question  of  building  an  American 
fleet,  which  must  have  appealed  to  Hancock,  as 
chairman  of  the  committee  on  naval  armament, 
whose  ships  were  rotting  at  his  own  wharf,  blockaded 
by  British  men-of-war.  Did  he  keep  his  counte 
nance  when  a  member  exclaimed,  "  It  is  the  maddest 
idea  in  the  world;  we  should  have  to  mortgage 
the  whole  Continent  to  do  it.  Two  swift  sailing 
vessels  for  gaining  intelligence  are  sufficient." 

Then  on  Monday,  September  25,  1775,  there  was 
a  debate  which  showed  that  methods  of  getting 
rich  in  war-time  were  not  the  invention  of  contrac 
tors  in  the  Civil  and  Spanish  wars  of  later  date. 
There  was  "an  uneasiness  among  some  of  the 
members  concerning  a  contract  with  Willing  and 
Morris  for  powder  by  which  that  firm  would  make 
a  clear  profit  of  twelve  thousand  pounds  at  least." 
Livingston  said  he  would  never  vote  to  ratify  the 
contract.  Willing,  a  member  of  Congress,  said 

1  Hancock's  famous  signature,  "so  plain  that  George  the  Third 
may  read  it  without  spectacles,"  stood  alone  for  a  month,  and  be 
sides  the  Secretary's  was  the  only  name  appended  to  the  Declara 
tion  when  copies  were  sent  to  the  several  colonial  Assemblies. 
Congress^*vithheld  all  other  signatures  as  they  were  dangerous  evi 
dences  of  treason  to  the  home  government,  involving  peril  of  the 
gallows. 


184  John    Hancock 

he  would  leave  it  to  his  partner  to  explain.  John 
son  said  a  hundred  tons  were  needed,  and  Congress 
was  to  pay  the  first  cost  only.  Zubly  remarked 
sarcastically,  "We  are  highly  favored;  fourteen 
pounds  a  barrel  we  are  to  give,  if  we  get  the  powder, 

—  and  the  same  if  we  don't  get  it.     Persons  enough 
will  supply  the  powder  at  fifteen  pounds  and  run  all 
risks."1    Dyer  observed,  " There  are  not  ten  men 
in  my  colony  with  so  much  money  as  will  be  made, 
clear,    by    this    contract;"     and     Ross    replied, 
"  What  has  this  to  do  with  the  present  debate, 
whether  Connecticut  men  are  worth  so  much  or  no  : 
there  are  no  men  there  whose  capital  or  credit 
is  equal  to  such  contracts." 

And  John  Hancock,  bland  and  quiet  as  became 
his  position  as  president  of  Congress,  could  recall  an 
order  given  three  years  before  by  himself  in  appre 
hensive  times  for  "  forty  half-barrels  of  Powder 

—  let  it  be  good."     His  capital  and  credit  were 
equal  to  any  army  contract,  whose  profits  might 
have  reimbursed  him  for  losses  at  the  beginning  of 
hostilities.     The  record  shows  that  he  spoke  but 
once    in    these    September    days.     When    Lynch 

1  In  the  general  scarcity  of  arms  and  ammunition  Franklin,  in 
jest  or  soberness,  at  one  time  proposed  a  return  to  aboriginal  bows 
and  arrows.  Other  patterns  of  this  weapon  had  won  famous 
battles  from  the  dawn  of  history,  and  could  outshoot  the  colonial 
musket.  Even  the  Stockbridge  Indians,  hanging  around  the  Cam 
bridge  camp,  picked  off  a  few  sentries  with  arrows  on  their  own 
account,  as  the  yeoman  ancestors  of  these  sentries  had  drawn  strong 
bows  against  the  French  at  Cre"cy  and  Agincourt. 


Second   Continental   Congress     185 

inquired  whether  Captain  Dean,  whose  vessel 
was  taken  at  Block  Island,  was  not  carrying  supplies 
to  the  enemy,  and  Lee  thought  such  conduct 
" detestable  parricide,"  Hancock  remarked  :  "Dean 
belongs  to  Boston ;  he  came  from  the  West  Indies, 
and  was  seized  here  and  released ;  he  loaded  with 
flour  and  went  out."  He  did  not  spare  a  Boston 
man  when  he  was  suspected  of  giving  aid  and  com 
fort  to  the  British. 

And  so  the  debates  went  on,  with  acrimony  often, 
with  appeals  for  unanimity,  concession,  and  com 
promise.  As  Livingston  said,  "We  are  between 
hawk  and  buzzard ;  we  puzzle  ourselves  between 
the  commercial  and  warlike  opposition."  The 
battle  between  these  forces  had  to  be  fought  out 
before  the  greater  war  with  Great  Britain.  As  for 
Hancock  himself,  he  had  decided  the  conflict 
between  his  commercial  interests  and  liberty  long 
before  he  came  to  the  Congress :  therefore  he  must 
have  watched  with  interest  if  not  impatience  the 
slow  conversion  of  one  deputy  after  another  to  the 
side  of  freedom.1  They  were  not  all  merchants 
and  importers,  very  few  in  fact;  but  all  were 

1  The  transition  from  demanding  reform  legislation  by  Parlia 
ment  to  insisting  upon  independence  was  rapid  during  the  siege 
of  Boston  in  1775,  and  was  accompanied  by  a  total  misapprehen 
sion  of  American  sentiment  by  the  British  ministry.  As  an  ex 
ample  of  an  Englishman's  opinion  of  colonial  devotion  to  the 
cause  of  freedom  the  historian  Gibbon's  letter  to  Lord  Eliot  may 
be  cited:  "As  it  is  the  season  for  sowing  Indian  corn,  the  chief 
subsistence  of  New  Englanders,  they  must  soon  disperse." 


1 86  John  Hancock 

affected  by  commerce  in  a  day  when  agriculture  as 
a  means  of  prosperity  was  lying  far  inland  as  an 
undeveloped  source  of  wealth.  Foreign  trade  was 
the  chief  reliance  of  the  seaboard,  on  which  the 
inland  counties  depended  as  well  as  the  tide-water 
towns.  Of  such  foreign  trade  Hancock  was  the 
principal  representative ;  another  reason  why  he 
should  preside  over  the  confederated  council. 

There  was  another  issue  made  paramount  for  a 
while  which  must  have  vexed  the  soul  of  an  ad 
vanced  patriot  like  Hancock.  What  proved  to  be 
a  "measure  of  imbecility,"  a  second  petition  to  the 
king,  clogged  for  a  time  every  effort  of  Congress 
toward  ultimate  independence.  A  certain  contin 
gent  caused  motions  to  be  made  and  tedious  de 
bates  for  appointing  committees  to  draw  up  dec 
larations  of  the  causes,  motives,  and  objects 
of  taking  up  arms ;  all  to  delay  the  declaration  of 
independence.  Meantime  a  New  England  army 
was  waiting  before  Boston  for  countenance,  en 
couragement,  acceptance,  arms,  pay,  and  even 
clothing;  while  their  officers  were  sending  letters 
to  the  Massachusetts  delegation  urging  in  pathetic 
terms  the  impossibility  of  keeping  the  militia 
together  without  the  assistance  of  Congress. 
Jealousy  in  this  body  bristled  in  every  direction; 
a  southern  party  against  a  northern,  a  royalist 
against  a  patriot.  The  loyalist  was  constantly 
demanding  one  more  appeal  to  the  king's  sense  of 
justice,  which  some  believed  was  dimmed  by  the 


Second  Continental  Congress     187 

unwisdom  of  favorite  counsellors.  When  Jay's 
motion,  seconded  by  Dickinson,  was  at  length 
passed,  "to  present  a  humble  and  dutiful  petition 
to  His  Majesty  for  the  promotion  of  a  most  desir 
able  reconciliation,"  Congress  weakened  the  spirit 
of  resolution  to  resist  which  was  making  for  inde 
pendence.  This  gave  the  king  time  to  collect  and 
forward  his  forces;  and  the  several  colonies  in  a 
half-hearted  way  were  directed  to  prepare  for  a 
doubtful  alternative,  as  it  was  "  very  uncertain 
whether  their  earnest  endeavors  to  accommodate  the 
unhappy  differences  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
colonies  by  conciliatory  measures  would  be  success 
ful."  This  hesitancy,  delay,  and  parleying  could 
not  have  been  otherwise  than  exasperating  to  a  de 
termined  chairman,  who  was  nevertheless  obliged 
to  preserve  a  neutral  attitude  during  the  protracted 
discussion. 

There  was  one  of  the  above  jealousies,  however, 
which  proved  too  much  for  Hancock's  equanimity. 
From  composite  motives  the  southern  colonies 
had  aspired  to  furnish  a  commander-in-chief  for 
the  northern  forces  already  in  the  field  —  possibly 
because  the  one  man  recognized  by  every  one  as 
equal  to  the  situation  was  a  Virginian.  General 
Artemas  Ward,  who  was  holding  chief  command, 
was  unfitted  by  age  for  the  position ;  and  Joseph 
Warren  explained  to  Samuel  Adams  that  a  recent 
resolve  of  the  Provincial  Congress  to  assume  the 
direction  of  the  army  was  to  be  understood  as  an 


1 88  J°hn  Hancock 

intimation  to  the  Continental  Congress  to  appoint 
a  Generalissimo.  When  this  proposition  was  dis 
cussed  in  Philadelphia  Hancock  was  among  the 
candidates.  His  knowledge  of  military  affairs  was 
limited  to  tactics  sufficient  to  lead  his  company 
about  the  streets  as  an  escort  to  the  provincial 
governors,  or  in  the  field  exercises  of  a  general 
training  day.  To  suppose  that  he  could  fill  a 
post  of  greater  authority  was  an  instance  of  a  very 
common  delusion,  namely,  that  one  is  peculiarly 
qualified  for  something  he  is  least  fitted  for.  Ne 
sutor  supra  crepidam  is  a  precept  that  is  by  no 
means  applicable  to  a  cobbler  alone  in  his  aspira 
tions  toward  a  field  of  higher  criticism.  Moreover, 
Hancock  had  already  been  elevated  to  as  supreme 
a  height  as  was  possible  to  an  American  citizen 
before  the  United  States  could  offer  him  their 
presidency.  If  the  office  of  commander-in-chief 
had  pointed  to  a  military  dictatorship  beyond  a 
crowd  of  raw  recruits  it  might  have  been  more 
alluring ;  but  it  did  not.  Nevertheless,  the  Presi 
dent  of  Congress  was  disappointed  that  he  was 
not  nominated  for  the  position,  and  chagrined  that 
his  friend  and  colleague  John  Adams  proposed 
a  Virginian,  and  that  Samuel  Adams  seconded  the 
nomination. 

In  his  own  account  of  the  election  John  Adams 
said  that  "  Washington  was  in  the  minds  of  so 
many  of  the  stanchest  members  that  nothing  could 
be  done  short  of  conceding  to  them,  Mr.  Hancock 


Second  Continental  Congress      189 

himself  had  an  ambition  to  be  appointed  com- 
mander-in-chief.  Whether  he  thought  an  election 
a  compliment  due  him,  and  intended  to  have  the 
honor  of  declining  it,  or  whether  he  would  have 
accepted  it,  I  know  not.  To  the  compliment  he 
had  some  pretensions,  for  at  that  time  his  exertions, 
sacrifices,  and  general  merits  in  the  cause  of  his 
country  had  been  incomparably  greater  than  those 
of  Colonel  Washington.  But  the  delicacy  of  his 
health,  and  his  entire  want  of  experience  in  actual 
service,  though  an  excellent  militia  officer,  were 
decisive  objections  to  him  in  my  mind.  In  can 
vassing  this  subject  out  of  doors,  I  found  too  that 
even  among  the  delegates  of  Virginia  there  were 
difficulties.  The  apostolical  reasonings  among 
themselves,  which  should  be  greatest,  were  not  less 
energetic  among  the  saints  of  the  ancient  dominion 
than  they  were  among  us  of  New  England.  In  sev 
eral  conversations  I  found  more  than  one  cool  about 
the  appointment  of  Washington,  and  particularly 
Mr.  Pendleton  was  very  full  and  clear  against  it." 
After  conferring  with  Samuel  Adams,  who  said 
nothing,  he  made  a  short  speech  on  the  distresses 
of  the  army,  the  danger  of  its  dissolution,  the 
anxiety  of  the  people,  and  closed  with  a  motion 
for  "the  adoption  of  the  army  at  Cambridge,  and 
that  a  gentleman  from  Virginia  be  appointed  Com- 
mander-in-Chief,  whose  skill,  experience  as  an 
officer,  independent  fortune,  great  talents,  and 
excellent  character  would  command  the  approba- 


190  John  Hancock 

tion  of  all  America,  and  unite  the  exertions  of  all 
the  Colonies  better  than  any  other  person  in 
the  Union.  Mr.  Washington,  who  happened  to 
sit  near  the  door,  as  soon  as  he  heard  me  allude 
to  him,  from  his  usual  modesty  darted  into  the 
library-room.  Mr.  Hancock,  who  was  our  Presi 
dent,  —  which  gave  me  an  opportunity  to  observe 
his  countenance  while  I  was  speaking  on  the  state 
of  Colonies,  the  army  at  Cambridge,  and  the  enemy, 
—  heard  me  with  visible  pleasure ;  but  when  I  came 
to  describe  Washington  for  the  commander,  I 
never  remarked  a  more  sudden  and  striking  change 
of  countenance.  Mortification  and  resentment  were 
expressed  as  forcibly  as  his  face  could  exhibit  them. 
Mr.  Samuel  Adams  seconded  the  motion,  and  that 
did  not  soften  the  President's  physiognomy  at  all." 
Whatever  feeling  Hancock  may  have  betrayed 
when  he  was  surprised  by  his  colleagues'  advocacy 
of  a  Virginian,  he  had  so  far  recovered  the  next 
day  as  to  write  to  Elbridge  Gerry  that  Washington 
was  "a  fine  man."  Austin,  in  his  "Life  of  Gerry," 
adds  that  neither  Hancock  nor  General  Ward  was 
ever  afterward  very  cordial  to  Washington.1  The 
fondness  of  Hancock  for  popularity  and  consequent 
advancement  was  his  principal  weakness,  which, 
like  vanity,  another  of  his  foibles,  is  so  common  that 

1  "Hancock  was  known  to  cherish  military  ambitions,  and  he 
viewed  the  nomination  to  the  command  of  the  army  as  a  reward 
due  to  himself."  —  "Correspondence  and  Journals  of  Samuel 
Blackley,"  in,  275. 


Second   Continental  Congress      191 

it  may  be  called  one  of  the  venial  faults,  if  not  a 
motive  to  exertion  in  the  lack  of  nobler  incitements. 
It  certainly  tends  to  promote  kindly  treatment  of 
all  who  may  be  useful  upon  occasion,  and  is  better 
than  some  other  forms  of  ambition.  Yet  no  one 
would  say  that  Hancock  would  be  likely  to  make 
all  the  sacrifices  that  he  did  merely  for  the  rewards 
that  the  patriot  party  had  it  in  their  power  to 
confer.  Up  to  the  declaration  of  independence 
and  even  later  those  who  were  looking  for  political 
preferment  would  side  with  the  crown,  which 
would  have  made  it  more  profitable  for  Adams 
and  Hancock  to  abandon  a  doubtful  alliance  than 
to  become  entangled  in  it.  It  would  have  been 
a  royal  economy  to  purchase  their  neutrality  at 
any  price,  if  it  could  have  been  bought.  Therefore 
while  Hancock  was  undoubtedly  gratified  by  popular 
adulation  and  promotion,  his  love  of  these  tokens  of 
respect  should  not  be  made  to  obscure  deeper 
and  better  springs  of  devotion  to  a  noble  cause. 
These  were  shown,  when  on  the  loth  of  July  he 
wrote  Washington:  "I  must  beg  the  favor  that 
you  will  reserve  some  berth  for  me,  in  such  de 
partment  as  you  may  judge  proper;  for  I  am 
determined  to  act  under  you,  if  it  be  to  take  a 
firelock  and  join  the  ranks  as  a  volunteer."  He 
may  have  rpeen  disappointed,  as  he  had  reason  to 
be  chagrined,  by  the  desertion  of  his  colleagues,  with 
whatever  good  reason  on  their  part,  but  this 
humble  offer  of  service  was  sincere,  unreserved, 


192  J°hn  Hancock 

and  unconditional.     Washington's  reply,  after  eleven 
days,  was  courteous  but  not  encouraging :  — 

"I  am  particularly  to  acknowledge  that  part  of  your 
favor  of  the  loth  instant,  wherein  you  do  me  the  honor  of 
determining  to  join  the  army  under  my  command.  I  need 
certainly  to  make  no  professions  of  the  pleasure  I  shall  have 
in  seeing  you.  At  the  same  time  I  have  to  regret,  that  so 
little  is  in  my  power  to  offer  to  Colonel  Hancock's  merits, 
and  worth  his  acceptance.  I  shall  be  happy  in  every 
opportunity  to  show  the  regard  and  esteem  with  which 

"I  am,  Sir,  your  most  obedient  and  very  humble  servant." 

A  word  should  be  added  with  regard  to  the  way 
that  Washington  took  his  nomination  to  the  posi 
tion  of  Commander-in- Chief.  After  speaking  of 
Hancock's  momentary  discomfiture  and  Washing 
ton's  surprise,  John  Adams  records  that  "It  was  on 
a  succeeding  day  that  he  was  formally  nominated, 
as  I  remember  by  Thomas  Johnson  of  Maryland." 
After  the  first  ballot  it  was  found  that  he  was  unani 
mously  elected,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  next 
day  it  fell  to  Hancock  as  President  to  communicate 
to  him  officially  and  verbally  the  notice  of  his 
election.  He  signified  his  acceptance  in  a  short 
and  appropriate  reply.  In  it  his  modesty  was 
equalled  by  his  generosity  in  refusing  the  pay  of 
$500  per  month  which  had  been  voted,  and  accept 
ing  remuneration  for  his  expenses  only. 

On  the  i  Qth  of  June,  two  months  after  the  battle 
of  Lexington  and  Concord,  Hancock  signed 
Washington's  commission  to  be  General  and  Com 
mander-in- Chief  of  the  army  of  the  United  Colonies. 


Second  Continental  Congress     193 

On  his  way  to  Cambridge  to  take  charge  of  the 
troops  he  wrote  Hancock  from  New  York  a  week 
later  that  by  the  advice  of  many  members  of 
Congress  who  judged  it  necessary  that  he  should 
avail  himself  of  information,  he  had  taken  the 
liberty  to  open  a  letter  in  the  hands  of  a  messenger 
to  Congress,  and  had  learned  particulars  of  the 
battle  of  Bunker's  Hill.  In  a  second  letter  to  the 
President,  written  as  it  happened  on  the  same  day 
that  Hancock  was  writing  to  solicit  service  under 
him,  Washington  informs  Congress  of  his  arrival 
in  Cambridge  on  July  3,  after  a  fatiguing  journey 
of  seventeen  days,  "  retarded  by  necessary  attention 
to  the  successive  civilities  which  accompanied  me 
in  my  whole  route."  Massachusetts  sent  two  men 
to  the  State  border  at  Springfield  to  provide 
honorable  escort  throughout  the  hundred  miles  to 
Cambridge,  and  to  receive  bills  for  entertainment 
at  the  inns.  General  Ward  gave  orders  for  the 
honorable  reception  of  the  Commander-in- Chief, 
"without,  however,  any  expenditure  of  powder." 
They  had  other  uses  for  an  article  of  which  they 
were  deplorably  short,  as  Washington  found  upon 
his  arrival.1  Ten  days  later  he  sent  another  letter 
to  President  Hancock  in  which  he  proposed  "to 
divide  the  army  into  three  divisions :  at  the  head  of 
each  will  be  a  general  officer";  but  there  is  no 

1  On  Sunday,  July  2,  at  2  P.M.  Lt.  Baker's  "Itinerary  of  Wash 
ington,"  p.  8.  An  American  spy  wrote  on  September  25  :  "I  heard 
Mr.  Hancock  Say  the  very  day  he  came  from  Congress  that  we 


194  J°lin  Hancock 

intimation  that  the  President  of  Congress  was  con 
templated  for  one  of  these  positions.  On  the  next 
day,  and  with  the  above  letter,  he  forwarded  to 
" Colonel  Hancock"  the  one  already  cited,  acknowl 
edging  his  offer  of  services,  but  politely  declining 
them.  And  on  the  4th  of  August,  in  another 
communication  to  the  President,  he  is  "much 
honored  by  the  confidence  reposed  in  him  of 
appointing  the  several  officers  recommended  in 
mine  of  the  loth  ultimo,  and  shall  endeavor  to  select 
such  persons  as  are  best  qualified  to  fill  these  im 
portant  posts."  By  this  time  Hancock  must  have 
concluded  that  his  chances  of  military  service  and 
promotion  were  few.  He  may  have  consoled 
himself  with  the  reflection  that  his  parliamentary 
gifts  were  greater  than  most  men's,  and  that  his  presi 
dency  of  Congress  was  next  in  distinction  if  not  equal 
to  the  Commander-in-Chief  's  position,  since  this  ad 
visory  body  was  constantly  dictating  military  affairs. 
While  these  letters  were  passing  between  the  two 
a  minor  tribute  was  paid  Hancock  by  the  General 
Assembly  of  Massachusetts,  which  on  the  igth  of 
July  had  succeeded  to  the  third  and  last  Provincial 
Congress,  the  presidency  of  which  he  had  contin 
ued  to  hold  while  in  Philadelphia.  Elected  as 

had  more  Powder  on  the  Road  coming  to  the  Camp  than  we  could 
Expend  in  one  twelve  months,  this  was  believed  by  all,  coming 
from  Hancock.  .  .  .  Our  Chiefs  say  it  is  Justifiable  for  such  re 
ports  when  all  is  at  Stake  and  the  Courage  of  the  Soldiers  must  be 
kept  up  high  by  some  means  or  other."  —  Belcher's  "First  Civil 
War,"  i,  207. 


Second  Continental   Congress     195 

one  of  the  representatives  from  Suffolk  County, 
he  was  immediately  chosen  by  the  Assembly  as  one 
of  eighteen  councillors,  his  own  name  heading 
the  list.  This  board  was  to  act  as  an  upper  house 
of  the  Legislature  and  also  as  an  executive  power, 
there  being  as  yet  no  governor.  The  duties  of  this 
body  furnished  employment  for  the  returned  con 
gressmen,  who  were  members  of  it,  throughout  the 
August  recess  until  the  24th  of  the  month.  Mean 
time  during  the  summer  and  fall  President  Han 
cock  was  writing  to  colonial  legislatures  and  to  army 
officers  letters  in  which  no  note  of  his  disappoint 
ment  appears,  and  that  were  a  credit  to  his  patriot 
ism  and  sympathy ;  as  for  example  one  to  General 
Schuyler  in  his  time  of  discouragement,  and  the 
following  official  communications,  which  are  a 
contrast  to  his  epistles  as  a  lover.1 

On  the  4th  of  June,  he  wrote  to  "The  Hon'ble 
Assembly  of  Massachusetts  Bay"  :  — 

"Our  affairs  are  hastening  fast  to  a  Crisis;  and  the  ap 
proaching  Campaign  will,  in  all  probability,  determine 
forever  the  Fate  of  America. 

"Such  is  the  unrelenting  Spirit  which  possesses  the  Ty 
rant  of  Britain  and  his  Parliament,  that  they  have  left  no 
Measure  unassayed  that  had  a  Tendency  to  accomplish 
our  Destruction.  Not  contented  with  having  lined  our 
Coasts  with  Ships  of  War,  to  starve  us  into  a  surrender 
of  our  Liberties,  to  prevent  us  from  being  supplied  with 
arms  and  ammunition,  they  are  now  about  to  pour  in  a  Num- 

1His  letters  to  army  officers  may  be  seen  in  the  "St.  Clair 
Papers,"  2  vols.,  Cincinnati,  1882. 


196  Jonn  Hancock 

her  of  foreign  Troops,  who  from  their  Want  of  Countries, 
&  their  Feelings  of  Sympathy  which  frequently  bind  to 
gether  the  different  parts  of  the  same  Empire,  will  be  likely 
to  do  the  business  of  their  Masters,  without  Remorse  or 
Compunction." 

After  mentioning  the  danger  from  Canada  and 
the  Indians  he  goes  on  to  say :  — 

"In  short,  on  your  exertions  at  this  critical  Period,  to 
gether  with  those  of  other  Colonies  in  the  Common  Cause, 
the  salvation  of  America  evidently  depends.  Our  Colony, 
I  am  persuaded  will  not  be  behindhand.  Let  us  therefore 
exert  every  Nerve  to  distinguish  ourselves.  I  entreat  you 
to  quicken  your  Preparations,  and  to  stimulate  the  good 
people  of  our  Government;  and  there  is  no  Danger,  not 
withstanding  the  mighty  Armament  with  which  we  are 
threatened,  but  they  will  be  lead  on  to  Victory,  to  Liberty 
and  to  Happiness."  l 

The  following  letter  to  the  Convention  of  New 
Jersey  is  of  similar  import  and  interest :  — 

"PHILADELPHIA,  July  i6th,  1776. 
"  GENTLEMEN, 

"Since  I  had  the  Honour  of  addressing  on  the  fourth 
of  June,  at  which  Time  I  transmitted  sundry  Resolves  of 
Congress  requesting  you  to  call  forth  your  Militia,  our 
Affairs  have  assumed  a  much  more  serious  Complexion. 
If  we  turn  our  attention  towards  the  Northern  Department, 
we  behold  an  Army  reduced  by  Sickness,  and  obliged  to  flee 
before  an  Enemy  of  vastly  superior  Force.  If  we  cast  our 
eyes  to  Head-Quarters,  we  see  the  British  Army  reinforced 
under  Lord  Howe,  and  ready  to  strike  a  Blow,  which  may 
be  attended  with  the  most  fatal  Consequences,  if  not  timely 
resisted.  The  situation  of  our  Country  at  this  Season,  calls 

1  "Mass.  State  Archives,"  Ms.  vol.  195,  p.  28. 


Second  Continental  Congress      197 

therefore  for  all  the  Vigour  and  Wisdom  among  us;  and 
if  we  do  not  mean  to  desert  her  at  this  alarming  Crisis,  it 
is  high  Time  to  rouse  every  Spark  of  Virtue;  and  forgetting 
all  inferior  Considerations,  to  exert  ourselves  in  a  Manner 
becoming  Freemen. 

"  The  Intelligence  received  this  Day  from  General  Wash 
ington,  points  out  the  absolute,  the  indispensible  Necessity 
of  sending  forward  all  the  Troops  that  can  possibly  be  col 
lected,  to  strengthen  both  the  Army  in  New  York,  and  that 
on  this  side  of  Canada.  I  do  therefore,  once  more,  in  the 
Name,  and  by  the  Authority  of  Congress,  beseech  and  re 
quest  you,  —  as  you  regard  the  Liberties  of  your  Country, 
and  the  Happiness  of  Posterity;  and  as  you  stand  engaged 
by  the  most  solemn  Ties  of  Honour  to  support  the  Common 
Cause  —  to  strain  every  Nerve  to  send  forward  your  Militia, 
agreeably  to  the  former  Requisitions  of  Congress.  This  is 
a  step  of  such  infinite  Moment,  that,  in  all  Human  Probabil 
ity,  it  will  be  the  Salvation  of  America  —  and  as  it  is  the 
only  effectual  Step,  that  can  possibly  be  taken  at  this  Junc 
ture,  you  will  suffer  me  again  most  ardently  to  entreat  your 
speedy  Compliance  with  it. 

"In  short,  the  Critical  Period  has  arrived,  that  will  seal 
the  Fate,  not  only  of  ourselves,  but  of  Posterity.  Whether 
they  shall  arise  the  generous  Heirs  of  Freedom,  or  the  das 
tardly  Slaves  of  imperious  Task-Masters,  it  is  now  in  your 
Power  to  determine.  And  as  Freemen,  I  am  sure,  you  will 
not  hesitate  about  the  Choice. 

"I  have  the  Honour  to  be 
"  Gentlemen 

"Your  most  obed't 
"veryhbleSer't 

"JOHN  HANCOCK  Presid't."  l 

1  From  Ms.  in  the  Dreer  Collection  of  the  Historical  Society  of 
Pennsylvania.  By  the  courtesy  of  the  Librarian,  Mr.  John  W. 
Jordan. 


198  Jonn  Hancock 

This  may  serve  as  an  example  of  his  interest  in 
the  welfare  of  the  army :  — 

"PHILADELPHIA,  June  21,  1776. 

"I  have  only  Time  to  observe  in  general  that  it  is  totally 
impossible  the  American  Troops  should  be  on  a  respectable 
Footing;  or  that  they  should  render  any  espetial  Services 
to  their  Country,  unless  the  United  Colonies  on  their  Part, 
will  take  Care  to  have  them  well  appointed  and  equipped 
with  every  Thing  necessary  for  an  Army.  In  this  view 
of  the  Matter,  the  enclosed  Resolve,  respecting  the  Mode 
of  providing  proper  Clothing  for  our  Troops,  is  most  Cer 
tainly  of  the  greatest  importance,  and  I  make  no  Doubt 
will  appear  in  the  same  Light  to  you  and  claim  your  im 
mediate  and  closest  Attention."  1 

1  "Mass.  State  Archives,"  Ms.  vol.  195,  p.  45.  Other  letters 
on  pp.  39,  41,  52,  55,  73,  in,  231.  On  Oct.  9  he  wrote  to  six  colo 
nies,  and  to  four  Dec.  25. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

A  WEDDING 

DOROTHY  QUINCY  did  not  go  back  to  Boston  after 
the  Concord  and  Lexington  fight,  despite  her  asser 
tion  that  she  was  not  yet  under  her  lover's  control. 
He  could  safely  leave  the  wilful  girl  to  the  manage 
ment  of  a  still  more  determined  woman,  who  had 
her  own  method  of  persuading  the  younger  one 
that  it  was  much  better  to  continue  their  flight  from 
the  beleaguered  town  of  Boston.  They  had  not 
been  out  of  Lexington  three  weeks  when  the 
maiden's  father,  whom  she  wished  to  visit,  had  left 
Boston,  and  from  Lancaster,  May  n,  wrote  to  his 
son  that  "Yr  sister  Dolly  with  Mrs.  Hancock 
came  from  Shirley  to  y'r  Bro.  Greenleef's  and  dined 
and  proceeded  to  Worcester,  where  Col.  H.  and 
Mr.  A.  were  on  their  way.  This  was  ten  days 
before  I  got  hither,  so  that  I  missed  seeing  them. 
As  I  hear,  she  preceded  with  Mr.  H.  to  Fairfield. 
I  don't  expect  to  see  her  till  peaceable  times  are 
restored." 

The  Burrs  were  an  ancient  Massachusetts  family, 
a  branch  of  which  had  drifted  from  the  Bay  down 
into  Fairfield,  Connecticut.  Thaddeus  Burr  was 
the  occupant  of  the  old  homestead  for  which  aunt 


2OO  J°hn  Hancock 

Lydia  Hancock  headed  with  Dorothy  Quincy  in 
charge,  and  her  nephew  John  conveniently  on  the 
way.  Alone  she  appears  to  have  been  equal  to  the 
task  of  personally  conducting  the  spirited  and 
vivacious  Dorothy  into  the  staid  Connecticut 
household.  There  Hancock  could  leave  his  fiancee, 
with  the  comforting  assurance  that  she  was  in  safe 
hands  where  he  could  find  her  when  his  congres 
sional  duties  should  be  sufficiently  relaxed  to  permit 
a  temporary  absence  from  Philadelphia.  He  did  not 
wait  to  reach  that  city  before  he  wrote  the  letter  of 
May  7  from  New  York,  describing  his  journey  and 
flattering  reception.1  A  month  afterward  he  wrote 
from  Philadelphia  a  letter  by  which  it  appears 
that  Dorothy  was  not  so  faithful  a  correspondent 
as  he  was,  and  perhaps  not  so  ardent  a  lover. 

"My  DR  DOLLY:  —  I  am  almost  prevailed  on  to  think 
that  my  letters  to  my  Aunt  &  you  are  not  read,  for  I  cannot 
obtain  a  reply,  I  have  ask'd  million  questions  &  not  an  an 
swer  to  one,  I  beg'd  you  to  let  me  know  what  things  my  Aunt 
wanted  &  you,  and  many  other  matters  I  wanted  to  know, 
but  not  one  word  in  answer.  I  Really  Take  it  extreme  un 
kind,  pray  my  Dr.  use  not  so  much  Ceremony  and  Reserved- 
ness,  why  can't  you  use  freedom  in  writing,  be  not  afraid 
of  me,  I  want  long  Letters.  I  am  glad  the  little  things  I 
sent  you  were  agreeable.  Why  did  you  not  write  me  of  the 
top  of  the  Umbrella.  I  am  so  sorry  it  was  spoiled,  but  I 
will  send  you  another  by  my  Express  wch  will  go  in  a  few 
days.  How  did  my  Aunt  like  her  gown,  &  do  let  me  know 
if  the  Stockings  suited  her;  she  had  better  send  a  pattern 

1  See  p.  171. 


A  Wedding  201 

shoe  and  stocking,  I  warrant  I  will  suit  her.  The  Inclosed 
letter  for  your  Father  you  will  read,  &  seal  and  forward  him, 
you  will  observe  I  mention  in  it  your  writing  your  Sister 
Katy  about  a  few  necessaries  for  Katy  Sewall,  what  you 
think  Right  let  her  have  &  Roy  James,  &  this  only  between 
you  and  I;  do  write  your  Father  I  should  be  glad  to  hear 
from  him,  &  I  beg,  my  dear  Dolly,  you  will  write  me  often 
&  long  letters,  I  will  forgive  the  past  if  you  will  mend  in  the 
future.  Do  ask  my  Aunt  to  make  up  and  send  me  a  Watch 
String,  &  do  you  make  up  another  &  send  me,  I  wear  them 
out  fast.  I  want  some  little  thing  of  your  doing. 

"Remember  me  to  all  Friends  with  you  as  if  Nam'd. 
I  am  call'd  upon  and  must  obey. 

"I  have  sent  you  by  Doer  Church  in  a  paper  Box  Directed 
to  you  the  following  things,  for  your  acceptance  &  which 
I  do  insist  you  wear,  if  you  do  not,  I  shall  think  the  Donor 
is  the  objection :  — 

"  2  pair  white  silk  4  pair  white  thread  stockings  which 

1  think  will  fit  you    i  pr.  Black  Satin  shoes,  i  pr.  Black 
Calem  Do.  the  other  shall  be  sent  when  done  i  very  pretty 
light  Hat  i  neat  Airy  Summer  Cloak  (I  ask  Doer.  Church) 

2  caps  i  Fann. 

"I  wish  these  may  please  you,  I  shall  be  gratified  if  they 
do,  pray  write  me,  I  will  attend  to  all  your  Commands. 

"Adieu  my  Dr  Girl,  and  believe  me  with  great  Esteem 
&  Affection 

"Yours  without  Reserve 

"JOHN  HANCOCK."1 
"Remember  me  to  Katy  Brackett." 

It  is  too  evident  that  despite  the  lover's  entreaties, 
supplemented  by  hosiery,  hat,  and  cloak,  Dorothy 
Quincy  was  so  sadly  in  arrears  in  the  matter  of 
letter-writing  that  out  of  regard  to  her  loyalty 

1  "JNew  England  Magazine,"  Old  Series,  xii,  532. 


2O2  J°hn  Hancock 

to  her  prospective  husband  some  search  ought  to 
be  made  for  a  woman's  reason  which  will  explain 
such  neglect,  in  part  at  least. 

In  the  house  where  she  was  staying  was  born  on 
November  6,  1756,  a  son  to  Aaron  Burr  and  Esther 
his  wife,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Reverend  Jonathan 
Edwards,  the  most  distinguished  theologian  and 
terrific  preacher  of  his  generation ;  and  for  a  short 
period  before  his  death  President  of  Princeton 
College.  Young  Aaron  Burr  inherited  intellectual 
gifts  that  were  a  credit  to  his  illustrious  ancestry, 
and  possessed  moreover  a  personal  fascination 
equalled  only  by  his  grandfather's  fearful  attrac 
tion  when  delivering  one  of  his  lurid  sermons. 
For  a  while  the  grandson  pursued  the  study  of 
divinity,  but  a  revolt  from  Calvinistic  dogmatism 
ended  in  legal  studies  and  practice.  He  had  been 
three  years  out  of  college,  a  youth  of  nineteen, 
when  he  appeared  one  summer  day  at  the  old 
homestead,  both  of  his  parents  having  died  in  his 
childhood.  Much  history  has  descended  with 
his  name,  but  it  is  a  uniform  tradition  that,  — 
what  is  of  chief  consequence  here,  —  his  attrac 
tions  were  well-nigh  irresistible  by  women.  An 
equally  well-attested  tradition  declares  that  Doro 
thy  Quincy  was  by  no  means  insensible  to  his 
charms  of  appearance  and  conversation. 

Aunt  Lydia  soon  became  alarmed  for  the  pros 
pects  of  her  nephew-congressman  by  the  daily 
presence  in  the  house  of  this  winsome  and  brilliant 


A  Wedding  203 

student  of  theology  and  law,  whose  enchantments 
may  have  been  past  her  matronly  and  aged  under 
standing  —  or  they  may  not,  but  were  so  evident 
that  some  drastic  policy  became  imperative  for 
the  safe-keeping  of  her  charge.  Plainly,  she  did 
not  disclose  the  situation  to  John,  since  amid  all 
his  complaints  and  surmisings  in  such  letters  as 
have  survived  there  is  no  hint  of  a  rival's  advan 
tageous  propinquity  in  the  household  where 
Dorothy  was  living.  It  is  not  certain  how  long 
she  was  exposed  to  the  hypnotic  influences  of  a 
young  man  ten  years  her  junior ;  but  it  is  on  rec 
ord  that  during  the  recess  of  Congress,  from 
August  i  to  September  5,  its  president  claimed  the 
willing  or  reluctant  betrothed  as  his  own,  and  they 
were  married  on  the  28th  day  of  August,  1775,  as 
was  duly  chronicled  in  the  "New  York  Gazette" 
of  September  4  :  — 

"This  evening  was  married  at  the  seat  of  Thaddeus  Burr, 
Esq.,  at  Fairfield  Conn.,  by  the  Reverend  Mr.  Eliot,  the 
Hon.  John  Hancock  Esq.,  President  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  to  Miss  Dorothy  Quincy,  daughter  of  Edmund 
Quincy  Esq.  of  Boston.  Florus  informs  us  that  'in  the 
second  Punic  war,  when  Hannibal  besieged  Rome  and  was 
very  near  making  himself  master  of  it,  a  field  upon  which 
part  of  his  army  lay,  was  offered  for  sale,  and  was  immedi 
ately  purchased  by  a  Roman,  in  a  strong  assurance  that  the 
Roman  valor  and  courage  would  soon  raise  the  siege.' 
Equal  to  the  conduct  of  that  illustrious  citizen  was  the 
marriage  of  the  Honorable  John  Hancock  Esq.,  who,  with 
his  amiable  lady  has  paid  as  great  a  compliment  to  American 
valor,  and  discovered  equal  patriotism,  by  marrying  now 


204  J°hn  Hancock 

while  all  the  colonies  are  as  much  convulsed  as  Rome  when 
Hannibal  was  at  her  gates." l 

No  doubt  Hancock  appreciated  the  compliment 
to  his  confidence  in  American  valor  by  some  news 
paper  Florus,  and  at  the  same  time  he  may  also 
have  had  his  own  apprehensions  about  the  wisdom 
of  a  Fabian  policy  in  delaying  his  marriage  much 
longer,  —  in  which  Aunt  Lydia  was  sure  to  agree 
with  him.  Dolly,  too,  might  have  had  her  com 
pensations  in  the  fact  that  she  had  wedded  a  man  of 
wealth  and  exalted  position,  with  the  accessories 
of  good  looks,  manners,  and  breeding.  Settled 
in  a  boarding-house  in  Philadelphia  with  other 
people  from  Massachusetts,  she  won  the  reputation 
of  a  devoted  wife.2  John  Adams,  writing  to  his 
wife  on  November  4,  says :  — 

"Two  pair  of  colors  belonging  to  the  Seventh  Regiment, 
were  brought  here  last  night  from  Chambly,  and  hung  up 
in  Mrs.  Hancock's  chamber  with  great  splendor  and  elegance. 
The  lady  sends  her  compliments  and  good  wishes.  Among 
a  hundred  men,  almost,  at  this  house,  she  lives  and  behaves 

1  Another  contemporary  sheet  had  his  portrait  as  a  frontispiece  ; 
and  John  Eliot  is  moved  to  write  to  Jeremy  Belknap :  "It  is  said 
that  the  President  of  our  Continental  Congress  is  a  person  of  sur 
passing  eloquence,  a  fine  writer,  argumentative,  cool,  as  may  be 
seen  in  the  addresses  of  Congress,  all  which  were  penned  by  him ; 
that  he  hath  lately  married  one  of  the  most  accomplished  ladies  on 
the  Continent,  who  has  bro't  him  a  great  addition  to  his  paternal 
fortune."  —  "Belknap  Papers,"  iv,  125.     An  instance  of  the  un- 
trustworthiness  of  some  examples  of  contemporary  report. 

2  The  first  weeks  at  Philadelphia  were  occupied  in  packing  up 
officers'  commissions  and  trimming  the  rough  edges  of  new  bills 
of  credit.  —  "Magazine  of  American  History,"  June,  1888. 


A  Wedding  205 

with  modest  decency,  dignity  and  discretion,  I  assure  you. 
Her  behavior  is  easy  and  genteel.  She  avoids  talking  upon 
politics.  In  large  and  mixed  companies  she  is  totally  silent, 
as  a  lady  ought  to  be.  But  whether  her  eyes  are  so  pene 
trating,  and  her  attention  so  quick  to  the  words,  looks  ges 
tures  sentiments  &c  of  the  company  as  yours  would  be, 
saucy  as  you  are  in  this  way,  I  won't  say." 

Probably  Abigail  Adams  understood  her  hus 
band  well  enough  to  believe  that  this  was  an  in 
tended  compliment  to  herself,  and  that  he  was 
immune  against  other  attractions  than  her  own. 

By  spring  the  Hancocks  took  a  house  from  which 
the  President  of  Congress  sent  an  invitation  to  the 
Commander-in- Chief  on  the  i6th  of  May,  1776, 
to  make  his  home  with  them  on  the  occasion  of 
his  visit  to  Philadelphia  to  consult  with  Congress 
about  the  ensuing  campaign,  where  he  was  to  be 
joined  by  Mrs.  Washington :  — 

"I  reside  in  an  airy  open  part  of  the  city,  in  Arch  street 
and  Fourth  street.  Your  favor  of  the  2oth  inst.  I  received 
this  morning  and  cannot  help  expressing  the  great  pleasure 
it  would  afford  Mrs.  Hancock  and  myself  to  have  the  happi 
ness  of  accommodating  you  during  your  stay  in  this  city.  As 
the  house  I  live  in  is  large  and  roomy,  it  will  be  entirely  in 
Your  power  to  live  in  that  manner  you  should  wish.  Mrs. 
Washington  will  be  as  retired  as  she  pleases,  while  under 
inoculation,  and  Mrs.  Hancock  will  esteem  it  an  honour 
to  have  Mrs.  Washington  inoculated  in  her  house;  and  as 
I  am  informed  Mr.  Randolph  has  not  any  lady  about  his 
house  to  take  the  necessary  care  of  Mrs.  Washington,  I  flatter 
myself  she  will  be  as  well  attended  in  my  family. 

"In  short,  sir,  I  must  take  the  freedom  to  repeat  my  wish, 


206  John  Hancock 

that  You  will  be  pleased  to  condescend  to  dwell  under  my 
roof.  I  assure  you,  sir,  I  will  do  all  in  my  power  to  render 
your  stay  agreeable,  and  my  house  shall  be  entirely  at  your 
disposal.  I  must,  however,  submit  this  to  your  determina 
tion  and  only  add  that  you  will  peculiarly  gratify  Mrs.  H. 
and  myself,  in  affording  me  an  opportunity  of  convincing 
of  this  truth,  that  I  am,  with  every  sentiment  of  regard  for 
you,  and  your  connections,  and  with  much  esteem,  dear  sir, 
"Your  faithful  and  most  obedient  humble  servant. 

"JOHN  HANCOCK." 

In  his  reply  of  May  20  to  the  official  letter 
which  accompanied  this  invitation  Washington 
expressed  his  gratitude  to  Congress  "for  their 
kind  attention  to  the  means  which  they  think  may 
be  conducive  to  my  health,  and  with  particular 
thanks  to  you  for  the  politeness  of  your  invitation 
to  your  house,  I  conclude,  dear  sir,  Your  most 
obedient,  etc."  There  is  no  indication  that  he 
accepted  Hancock's  offer  of  hospitality.  Possibly 
the  non-acceptance  was  the  cause  of  the  following 
note  from  the  President  of  Congress  soon  after 
the  arrival  of  Washington  in  Philadelphia :  — 

"I  am  extremely  sorry  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  wait  on 
you  in  person,  to  execute  the  commands  of  Congress.  But 
being  deprived  of  that  pleasure  by  a  severe  fit  of  the  gout, 
I  am  under  the  necessity  of  taking  this  method  to  acquaint 
you,  that  the  Congress  have  directed  me  in  their  name  to 
make  the  thanks  of  that  body  to  you,  for  the  unremitted  at 
tention  you  have  paid  to  your  important  trust,  and  in  par 
ticular  for  the  assistance  they  have  derived  from  your  mili 
tary  knowledge  and  experience,  in  adopting  the  best  plans 
for  the  defence  of  the  United  Colonies." 


A  Wedding  207 

In  this  note  also  there  is  evidence  that  Wash 
ington  did  not  accept  Hancock's  proffered  hos 
pitality.  Nor  was  this  the  only  occasion  on  which 
the  convenient  gout  served  the  latter's  sense  of 
what  was  due  him.  He  had  been  profuse  in  his 
cordial  tender  of  entertainment  to  one  who  occu 
pied  a  position  which  he  had  coveted  :  the  recogni 
tion  of  his  offer  was  courteous  but  almost  curt  in 
response  to  the  somewhat  effusive  but  evidently 
genuine  initiative  of  Hancock.  At  this  distance 
a  sudden  recurrence  of  his  malady  seems  excus 
able,  if  not  natural.  •"• 

On  the  24th  of  August  it  became  the  duty  of 
the  President  of  Congress  to  write  the  Comman- 
der-in-Chief  in  commendation  of  his  action  in  the 
matter  of  Lord  Drummond's  proposal  of  a  plan  of 
reconciliation  between  Great  Britain  and  the  colo 
nies,  which  Washington  had  promptly  declined 
to  receive  from  a  man  who  was  violating  his  parole, 
as  he  considered. 

"SiR, 

"The  late  conduct  of  Lord  Drummond  is  as  extraordinary, 
as  his  motives  are  dark  and  mysterious.  To  judge  the  most 
favorably  of  his  intentions,  it  should  seem,  that  an  over 
weening  vanity  has  betrayed  him  into  a  criminal  breach 
of  honor.  But  whether  his  views  were  upright,  or  intended 
only  to  mislead  and  deceive,  cannot  at  present  be  a  matter 
of  any  importance.  In  the  meantime  I  have  the  pleasure 
to  acquaint  you,  that  Congress  highly  approve  the  manner 
in  which  you  have  checked  the  officious  and  intemperate 
zeal  of  his  Lordship.  Whether  his  designs  were  hostile  or 


208  J°hn  Hancock 

friendly,  he  equally  merited  the  reproof  you  gave  him,  and 
I  hope  for  the  future  he  will  be  convinced,  that  it  is  highly 
imprudent  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  public  to  a  charac 
ter,  which  will  only  pass  without  censure  when  it  passes 
without  notice.  ...  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  etc. 

"JOHN  HANCOCK."1 

It  may  be  admitted  that  Hancock  succeeded 
in  separating  his  official  duty  from  his  personal 
inclinations.  He  could  not  fail  to  have  the  Com- 
mander-in- Chief  often  in  his  thoughts,  as  that 
dignitary  was  frequently  the  subject  of  discussion 
in  Congress.  In  communicating  the  sentiments 
of  that  body  he  allowed  no  note  of  personal  feeling 
to  color  the  expression  of  its  opinions  or  will. 
If  in  the  privacy  of  his  fireside  the  attitude  of 
General  Washington  was  sometimes  discussed, 
the  two  most  concerned  were  not  likely  to  let  their 
neighbors  have  the  opportunity  to  repeat  anything 
to  the  detriment  of  the  man  who  was  having  abuse 
enough  from  the  envious  and  ambitious,  from  pre 
tended  friends  and  open  enemies. 

1  The  correspondence  on  the  Lord  Drummond  proposition  will 
be  found  in  Sparks'  edition  of  "Washington's  Writings,"  in, 
525.  Also  some  of  the  letters  in  this  chapter  under  their  dates. 
The  editor  made  them  conform  to  modern  standards  of  spelling 
and  punctuation. 

"The  letters  of  John  Hancock  are  not  in  the  collection  of  Let 
ters  of  the  Presidents  of  Congress."  —  "Calendar  of  the  Corre 
spondence  of  George  Washington  with  the  Continental  Con 
gress,"  i,  7.  Many  of  them  are  in  the  keeping  of  the  historical 
societies  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Massachusetts,  in  the  Archives  of 
the  latter  state,  and  in  private  hands.  If  collected  they  would 
furnish  illuminating  comment  on  the  Revolutionary  period. 


CHAPTER  XV 

PRESIDENT  OF  CONGRESS 

COINCIDENT  with  the  declaration  of  indepen 
dence  a  movement  was  started  for  the  confederation 
of  the  colonies.  To  accomplish  even  a  loose  con 
nection  between  separate  and  jarring  states  was 
a  slower  matter  than  to  get  them  to  declare  them 
selves  sundered  from  Great  Britain.1  Each  colony 
was  glad  of  the  company  of  the  others  in  the 
chorus  of  protest  and  assertion,  but  it  meant  that 
the  freedom  was  for  each  one  personally  and  in 
dividually  as  a  member  of  a  group.  As  a  group, 
united  by  nothing  stronger  than  common  consent, 
there  was  little  or  no  authority  over  any  partic 
ular  member  of  it.  They  all  had  just  thrown  off 
the  control  of  one  king :  they  were  in  no  haste  to 
have  another,  whether  congress  or  president.  At 
the  same  time,  the  weakness  and  the  danger  of 
disunion  to  these  separate  "States,"  as  they  be 
gan  to  call  themselves,  was  growing  more  apparent 
every  day ;  but  it  was  long  before  needful  conces- 

1  As  against  these  plans  of  confederation,  alternative  proposi 
tions  for  the  continuance  of  union  with  Great  Britain  were  fre 
quently  brought  forward,  of  which  Galloway's  was  an  example. 
It  is  to  be  seen  in  the  "Journal  of  Continental  Congress,"  n,  44. 


2io  J°hn  Hancock 

sions  to  the  idea  of  federation  could  be  obtained, 
and  longer  still  before  it  was  cordially  accepted. 
States  rights,  chartered,  inherent,  and  immanent, 
were  the  materials  out  of  which  the  fabric  of  a 
nation  was  to  be  built,  and  the  incongruous  stones 
and  timbers  were  not  to  be  assembled  in  a  day; 
nor  have  their  distinctive  peculiarities  been  en 
tirely  lost  after  a  century  and  a  third.  It  is  some 
times  forgotten  how  much  longer  the  thought  of 
separatism  and  individualism  prevailed  through 
out  the  colonial  period  than  has  that  of  union  in 
the  national  period.  Thirty- three  years  are  yet  to 
pass  before  the  last  period  will  equal  the  first ;  but 
it  would  take  more  than  one  decade  to  eradicate  the 
political  theories  and  habits  to  which  the  nation  has 
become  accustomed  in  one  hundred  and  thirty-six 
years.  The  same  was  truer  of  a  people  whose  no 
tions  of  local  rights  had  been  undisturbed  for  one 
hundred  and  sixty-nine  years  from  the  first  per 
manent  settlement  in  Virginia  in  1607,  or  for 
one  hundred  and  fifty-six  years  in  Massachusetts, 
with  corresponding  periods  in  other  colonies. 

To  this  new  plan  of  confederation  Congress  de 
voted  its  attention  in  1777  ;  with  the  greater  cour 
age  because  the  clouds  over  the  army  were  clearing 
and  the  hopes  of  the  people  were  reviving.  Some, 
to  be  sure,  saw  in  a  final  victory  freedom  chiefly 
for  their  own  commonwealth  to  pursue  its  sec 
tional  schemes,  recalling  the  evil  proverb  for  the 
fate  of  the  hindmost.  In  the  main,  however,  Con- 


President  of  Congress  2 1 1 

gress  had  been  a  school  for  mutual  instruction, 
opening  blind  eyes  to  unsuspected  or  unadmitted 
excellencies  in  others;  teaching  also  the  necessity 
of  daily  yielding  something  to  the  common  welfare 
and  to  the  opinion  of  the  greater  number.  Those 
who  had  been  learners  in  this  school  of  political 
science  went  home  to  teach  the  people,  and  to 
turn  public  opinion  out  of  the  channels  in  which  it 
had  run  for  a  century  and  a  half ;  since  back  to  the 
people  the  question  of  confederation,  like  that  of 
independence,  was  to  be  referred  for  ultimate 
decision.  Some  of  the  principalities  had  already 
been  framing  new  governments  to  fit  the  new  con 
ditions  of  entire  self-government;  now  they  were 
to  be  asked  what  they  were  willing  to  contribute 
toward  the  unity  of  all.  It  was  a  new  proposition ; 
regarded  with  suspicion  and  approached  with  re 
luctance.  It  was  not  until  they  realized  that  their 
separation  from  Great  Britain  and  their  isolation 
from  each  other  debarred  them  from  a  place  among 
the  nations  that  the  colonies  saw  the  necessity  of 
some  sort  of  alliance  among  themselves. 

In  addition  to  their  jealousy  of  one  another  the 
States  grew  more  suspicious  of  Congress  as  the 
war  elicited  acts  which  were  interpreted  as  looking 
toward  imperialism,  of  which  the  direction  of  cam 
paigns,  and  a  standing  committee  of  five  to  hear 
appeals  in  prize  cases  were  instances.  Some  States 
insisted  on  having  a  voice  in  privateering  limita 
tions,  and  all  of  them  were  ready  to  send  embarrass- 


212  John  Hancock 

ing  instructions  to  their  deputies  at  every  turn 
in  affairs.  All  this  diversity  of  opinion  in  Congress, 
and  considerable  officious  ignorance  outside,  made 
Hancock's  presidency  more  trying  than  that  of 
later  chairmen  because  grounds  of  difference  were 
more  radical  than  they  now  are  after  the  existence 
of  the  nation  under  constitutional  legislation  for 
a  century  and  a  third.1 

A  further  annoyance  to  the  President  of  Congress 
arose  from  its  growing  inefficiency  through  with 
drawal  of  its  ablest  members  into  missions  abroad 
or  governorships  in  their  respective  States.  This 
depletion  paralleled  the  short  terms  of  service  in 
the  army,  which  would  have  ruined  the  American 
cause  by  New  Year's  day  of  1777  if  Washington's 
crossing  the  Delaware  on  Christmas  night  and  the 
battle  of  Trenton  the  next  day  had  not  turned  the 
tide  of  affairs  at  its  lowest  ebb,  and  kept  home 
sick  and  heartsick  troops  from  abandoning  the 
contest.  Congressmen  went  home  for  a  different 
reason,  especially  when  State  elections  were  ap 
proaching,  or  sailed  for  foreign  parts  where  their 
services  might  be  needed.  In  both  cases  their 
experience  was  missed  in  Congress,  and  their  ab 
sence  was  not  made  good  by  new  members. 
Twelve  out  of  the  thirteen  who  drew  up  the  plan 
of  confederation  had  left  when  the  debate  on  it 

1  "In  the  midst  of  all  this  complicated  committee  system  was  the 
President  of  Congress  himself,  the  most  overworked  of  them  all." 
—  Van  Tyne,  "American  Revolution,"  p.  190. 


President  of  Congress  213 

began;  and  even  Samuel  Adams,  the  thirteenth, 
was  absent  when  the  articles  were  adopted.  Newly 
appointed  delegates  brought  their  provincial  antip 
athies  with  them,  which  they  often  mistook  for 
a  patriotism  that  their  predecessors  had  lost  in  the 
abrasions  of  Congress  and  Philadelphia  hospitality, 
but  which  many  of  the  earlier  ones  had  by  no  means 
thrown  off.  Benjamin  Harrison  compared  Yan 
kees  in  Congress  to  the  Grand  Turk  in  his  domin 
ion,  and  Rutledge  dreaded  their  overruling  in 
fluence  in  council :  to  which  John  Adams  retorted : 
"The  dons,  the  bashaws,  the  grandees,  the  sa 
chems,  the  nabobs,  call  them  by  what  name  you 
please,  sigh,  groan,  fret,  and  sometimes  stamp  and 
foam  and  curse,  but  all  in  vain." 

This  exchange  of  amenities  demanded  a  pre 
siding  officer  of  some  tact  and  great  urbanity  to 
keep  the  fathers  of  the  republic  from  running  into 
parliamentary  riot.  Small  States  feared  the  large, 
whose  territory  stretched  to  the  Pacific.  The 
Wyoming  valley  was  a  bone  between  Connecticut 
and  Pennsylvania;  the  Green  Mountain  pastures 
another  between  New  York  and  New  Hampshire; 
and  Vermont,  asking  admittance  as  an  indepen 
dent  State,  made  New  York  and  New  England 
bristle  and  growl.  Lafayette  thought  that  parties 
in  Congress  hated  one  another  as  much  as  they 
hated  the  enemy;  and  Washington  wrote  that 
"Congress  is  rent  by  Party;  business  of  personal 
concernment  withdrawing  attention  from  matters 


214  J°hn  Hancock 

of  great  national  moment."     Sometimes  not  more 
than  twelve  members  were  in  attendance. 

Hancock  was  a  man  of  too  large  commercial 
and  political  experience  to  look  down  upon  the 
House  from  his  chair  in  his  judicial  capacity  and 
not  understand  the  causes  of  bickering  and  dis 
trust.  If  the  original  members  could  have  kept 
together  there  would  have  been  better  hope  of 
eventual  harmony  through  acquaintance  and  dis 
cussion.  Instead,  each  session  brought  new  men 
to  thresh  over  the  chaff  that  had  been  sufficiently 
pounded  before  their  arrival.  Nothing  could  be 
more  wearying  to  a  chairman  or  require  more 
patience.  Then  there  were  questions  about  pro 
portionate  influence,  privilege,  and  representation 
in  the  new  government.  Deputies  had  to  contend 
for  these  upon  the  demand  of  their  constituencies ; 
how  many  votes  each  State  should  have,  and  what 
share  of  funds  it  should  contribute.  Franklin 
doubted  whether  the  whale  would  swallow  Jonah 
or  the  reverse.  Finally  it  was  decided  to  vote  by 
States  and  to  contribute  according  to  land  values. 
Trimming  the  States  that  reached  to  the  Mississippi 
and  the  " South  Sea"  was  a  longer  task  which 
delayed  the  final  adoption  of  the  Articles  of  Con 
federation.  Three  months  were  consumed  in  get 
ting  its  terms  agreed  upon  by  Congress  amidst  no 
end  of  amendment  and  revision,  to  be  sent  out  to 
the  States  in  its  final  form  on  the  iyth  of  Novem 
ber,  1777,  the  day  of  Burgoyne's  surrender.  This 


President  of  Congress  215 

disastrous  blow  to  the  enemy  hastened  the  adop 
tion  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation  by  the  States, 
and  gave  new  hopes  to  Americans  here  and  to  their 
friends  abroad,  especially  in  France,  which  was 
waiting  to  send  more  freely  and  openly  the  aid 
that  had  been  promised,  and  furnished  covertly 
but  generously  by  individuals. 

Hancock  began  to  feel  the  strain  of  his  difficult 
position  in  the  wrangling  over  Articles  of  Confed 
eration,  and  in  the  increasing  labors  consequent 
upon  movements  of  the  army  and  the  danger  of 
the  enemy's  occupying  the  city.1  He  was  also 
contending  with  physical  infirmities  which  the 
climate  of  Philadelphia  did  not  help  to  lessen, 
nor  his  unsatisfactory  mode  of  life  in  lodgings 
which  he  had  taken  after  the  return  of  Congress 
from  Baltimore.  He  had  left  Mrs.  Hancock  in 
that  city  with  an  infant  daughter,  named  Lydia 
Henchman  for  the  aunt.  The  following  letter 
gives  a  glimpse  of  his  lonely  life. 

"PHILADELPHIA  zoth  March  1777 

"MY  DEAR  DEAR  DOLLY:  My  detention  at  the  Ferry 
&  the  badness  of  the  Roads  prevented  my  arriving  here 
untill  Friday  Evening. 

"I  put  my  things  into  Mr.  Williams'  house,  and  went 
in  pursuit  of  Lodgings.  Neither  Mrs.  Yard  nor  Lucy  could 
accommodate  me.  I  then  went  to  Smith's  and  borrowed 
two  Blankets  &  returned  to  my  own  house;  soon  after  which 
Mrs.  Smith  sent  me  up  a  very  handsome  supper,  with  a 

1  In  addition  to  duties  of  the  presiding  officer  there  were  com 
mittee  labors,  as  of  that  on  fitting  out  a  naval  armament.  "Journal 
of  Continental  Congress,"  HI,  425. 


216  J°nn  Hancock 

Table  cloth,  Knives  &  forks,  plates,  salt,  a  print  of  Butter, 
Tea,  double  refined  Sugar,  a  Bowl  of  Cream,  a  Loaf  of  Bread 
&c  &c  here  I  have  remain'd  and  shall  do  so  waiting  your 
arrival.  Indeed  Mrs.  Smith  oblig'd  me  much.  I  however 
lead  a  doleful  lonesome  life.  Tho  on  Saturday  I  dined  at 
Dr.  Shippins'.  He  desires  his  Regds.  he  is  as  lonesome  as  I. 
On  Saturday  I  sat  down  to  dinner  at  the  little  table  with 
Folger  on  a  piece  of  Roast  Beef  with  Potatoes.  We  drank 
your  health  with  all  our  Baltimore  friends.  Last  night  Miss 
Lucy  came  to  see  me,  &  this  morning  while  I  was  at  Break 
fast  on  Tea  with  a  pewter  tea-spoon,  Mrs.  Hard  came  in. 
She  could  not  stay  to  Breakfast  with  me.  I  spend  my  even 
ings  at  home,  snuff  my  candles  with  a  pair  of  scissors,  which 
Lucy  seeing,  sent  me  a  pair  of  snuffers  &  dipping  gravy 
out  of  the  Dish  with  my  pewter  tea  spoon,  she  sent  me  a 
large  silver  spoon  and  two  silver  tea  spoons  —  that  I  am 
now  quite  rich. 

"I  shall  make  out  as  well  as  I  can,  but  I  assure  you,  my 
Dear  Soul  I  long  to  have  you  here  &  I  know  you  will  be  as 
expeditious  as  you  can.  When  I  part  from  you  again  it 
must  be  a  very  extraordinary  occasion.  I  have  sent  every 
where  to  get  a  gold  or  silver  rattle  for  the  child  with  a  coral 
to  send  but  cannot  get  one.  I  will  have  one  if  possible  on 
yr  coming.  I  have  sent  a  sash  for  her  &  two  little  papers 
of  pins  for  you.  If  you  do  not  want  them  you  can  give 
them  away. 

"  However  unsettled  things  may  be  I  could  not  help  send 
ing  for  you  as  I  cannot  live  in  this  way.  We  have  an  abun 
dance  of  lies.  The  current  report  is  that  General  Howe 
is  bent  on  coming  here,  another  report  is  that  the  Mercht's 
at  New  York  are  packing  their  goods  &  putting  them  on 
board  ships  &  that  the  troops  are  going  away,  neither  of 
which  do  I  believe.  We  must,  however,  take  our  chances, 
this  you  may  depend  on,  that  you  will  be  ever  the  object 
of  my  utmost  care  &  attention, 


President  of  Congress  217 

"I  have  been  exceedingly  busy,  since  I  have  been  here, 
tho'  have  not  yet  made  a  Congress,  are  waiting  for  the  South 
Carolina  gentleman.  If  Capt.  Hammond  is  arrived  with 
any  things  from  Boston,  You  will  have  them  put  in  the 
Waggons  and  brought  here.  If  she  should  not  be  arriv'd 
leave  the  Receipt  with  Mr.  S.  Purviance  &  desire  him  to 
receive  the  things  and  send  them  to  me.  The  inclosed 
Letter  give  to  Mr.  Newhouse,  one  of  the  Waggoners,  Send 
for  him  &  let  him  know  when  you  will  be  ready.  I  hope  you 
will  be  able  to  pack  up  all  your  things  quickly  &  have  them 
on  the  way  &  that  you  will  soon  follow,  be  careful  in  packing 
and  do  not  leave  anything  behind.  Let  Harry  see  that 
everything  is  safely  stored  in  the  waggons.  I  send  Mr. 
McCloskey,  he  will  be  very  useful.  I  am  confident  Mr.  & 
Mrs.  Hilligas  will  assist  you,  pray  my  best  Regds.  to  them. 
I  have  not  had  time  to  go  to  their  house  but  intend  it  today 
&  shall  write  Mr.  Hilligas  by  the  Post.  Young  Mr.  Hillagas 
got  here  on  Saturday,  he  is  well,  he  delivered  me  your  letter 
&  one  from  his  father.  I  was  exceeding  glad  to  hear  from 
you  and  hope  soon  to  receive  another  Letter.  I  know  you 
will  set  off  as  soon  as  You  can.  endeavor  to  make  good 
stages.  You  may  easily  lodge  at  Mr.  Steles'  at  Bush  the 
first  night.  It  is  a  good  house.  However  I  must  leave 
those  matters  to  you  as  the  Road  must  in  great  measure 
determine  your  Stages.  I  do  not  imagine  there  is  any  danger 
of  small-pox  on  the  Road.  Wilmington  is  the  most  dan 
gerous,  but  go  on  to  Chester.  I  want  to  get  somebody 
cleaver  to  accompany  you.  I  hope  to  send  one  to  you, 
but  if  I  should  not  be  able,  you  must  make  out  as  well  as 
you  can." 

"n  March. 

"I  will  write  by  the  Post  tomorrow.  I  can't  add  as  I  am 
now  call'd  on.  I  hope  no  accident  will  happen.  Inclosed 
you  have  a  few  memo,  as  to  pack'g  &c  which  I  submit  to 
your  perusal. 


2i8  John  Hancock 

"My  best  regds  to  Mr  &  mrs.  Purviance"  Capt  Nicholson 
&  Lady,  Mr.  Luce  &  family  &  indeed  all  friends.  My  love 
to  Miss  Katy,  and  tell  her  to  Ransack  the  house  &  leave 
nothing  behind.  The  Waggoners  will  attend  you  at  all 
times.  Remember  me  to  all  the  family.  May  every  bless 
ing  of  an  Indulgent  providence  attend  you.  I  most  sin 
cerely  wish  you  a  good  journey  &  hope  I  shall  soon,  very  soon, 
have  the  happiness  of  seeing  you  with  the  utmost  affection 
and  Love.  My  Dear  Dolly, 

"I  am  yours  forever 

"JOHN  HANCOCK." 

"Doctor  Bond  call'd  on  me,  Desir'd  his  complements. 
He  will  inoculate  the  child  as  soon  as  it  comes. 

"Mrs.  Washington  got  here  on  Saturday.  I  went  to  see 
her.  She  told  me  she  Drank  tea  with  you. 

"Let  Harry  take  the  Continental  Horse,  Saddle  &  Bridle, 
that  I  left  at  Mr.  Purviance's  &  tell  Mr.  Purviance  to  charge 
his  keeping  in  his  public  credit.  If  Capt  Hardy  returns 
the  Horse  I  lent  him  with  the  Saddle  &  Bridle  he  must  also 
come.  Get  the  heavy  waggon  off  as  soon  as  you  can,  that 
they  may  be  here  as  early  as  possible  as  we  shall  much  want 
the  things  after  you  get  here.  I  have  got  your  bundle  safe 
with  the  Petticoat,  Table  Cloth,  I  have  not  sent  it  as  I 
thought  you  would  not  want  it."  l 

In  the  evening  of  the  day  on  which  he  finished 
this  letter  he  wrote  another  of  similar  length  and 
substance  apparently  to  serve  as  a  diversion  in  his 
solitude.  It  must  have  taken  him  a  good  part  of 
the  night  to  write  it. 

1  "Old  Boston  Days  and  Ways,"  p.  237,  from  letter  formerly 
in  the  possession  of  the  late  Mrs.  William  Wales. 


President  of  Congress  219 

"PHILADELPHIA,  n  March  1777 

"9  o'clock  Evening 

"Mv  DEAREST  DOLLY:  No  Congress  today,  and  I  have 
been  busily  employ'd  as  you  can  conceive;  quite  lonesome 
&  in  a  domestick  situation  that  ought  to  be  relieved  as 
speedily  as  possible,  this  Relief  depends  upon  you,  and  the 
greater  Dispatch  you  make  &  the  Sooner  you  arrive  here, 
the  more  speedy  will  be  my  relief.  I  dispatched  Harry, 
McClosky  and  Dennis  this  morning  with  Horses  &  a  Waggon 
as  winged  Messengers  to  bring  you  along.  God  grant  you 
a  speedy  and  safe  Journey  to  me.  Mr.  Pluckrose  the  Bearer 
of  this  going  for  Mrs.  Morris,  I  have  engaged  him  to  proceed 
on  to  Baltimore  to  deliver  you  this;  I  wrote  you  this  morn 
ing  to  bring  all  the  things  that  came  from  Boston  to  this 
place  but  should  they  be  landed  before  you  leave  Baltimore, 
I  could  wish  you  would  present  One  Quintal  of  the  Salt 
Fish  &  three  or  four  Loaves  of  the  Sugar  to  Mr.  Sam'l  Pur- 
viance,  or  in  case  they  should  not  be  landed,  leave  directions 
to  have  these  articles  taken  out  and  presented  to  Mr.  P 
with  our  Compliments.  I  forget  what  other  things  there  are 
but  if  you  choose  to  make  presents  of  any  of  them,  I  pray 
you  to  do  it.  If  in  the  prosecution  of  your  Journey  you 
can  avoid  lodging  at  the  head  of  Elk,  I  wish  you  would, 
it  is  not  so  good  as  the  other  houses,  but  this  must  depend 
on  Circumstances;  I  wish  you  to  make  yr  journey  as  agree 
able  as  possible.  Should  any  Gentlemen  &  Ladies  accom 
pany  you  out  of  Town  do  send  McClosky  forward  to  order 
a  handsome  Dinner  and  I  beg  you  to  pay  every  Expence, 
order  McClosky  to  direct  the  Landlord  not  to  Receive  a 
single  farthing  from  any  one  but  by  your  Direction  &  order 
a  genteel  Dinner;  plenty  — 

"If  Mr.  Thomson  cannot  be  ready  with  his  Waggons 
as  soon  as  you  are,  do  not  wait,  but  part  of  the  Guard  with 
an  Officer  must  attend  yours,  and  part  be  left  to  guard  his. 
I  only  wish  to  have  you  here,  and  if  you  cannot  readily 


22O  J°hn  Hancock 

attend  to  the  Return  of  the  things  borrowed  of  Mr.  Dugan, 
leave  them  in  the  Care  of  some  trusty  person  to  deliver 
them  and  pay  him  for  his  trouble.  Am  I  not  to  have  another 
letter  from  you  ?  Surely  I  must.  I  shall  send  off  Mr.  Rush 
or  Tailor  to-morrow  or  next  day  to  meet  you.  I  wish  I 
could  do  better  for  you  but  we  must  Ruff  it;  I  am  so  har- 
rassed  with  applications,  &  have  been  sending  off  Expresses 
to  Call  all  the  Members  here,  that  I  have  as  much  as  I  can 
Turn  my  hands  to ;  I  don't  get  down  to  dinner,  Catch  a  Bit, 
I  write,  &  then  at  it  again  [the  writing  is  here  illegible]  .  .  . 
if  it  promotes  the  cause  I  am  happy,  do  beg  Mr.  Hillegas1 
to  send  some  money  by  my  Waggons,  or  I  shall  be  worn 
out  with  applications,  pray  him  to  take  pity  on  me,  I  have 
lent  my  own  stock  already  to  stop  some  mouths. 

"  My  respects  to  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Hillegas,  they  must  excuse 
my  not  writing  now,  I  have  not  seen  their  son  since  he  de- 
liver'd  me  your  Letter,  I  asked  him  to  Call,  but  I  suppose 
he  is  so  engaged  with  his  Connection  he  has  not  had  time, 
I  could  wish  to  have  it  in  my  Power  to  do  him  any  Service 
for  the  great  regard  I  bear  to  his  worthy  Parents,  I  assure 
you  I  really  love  them,  I  wish  they  were  Coming  with  you, 
I  could  then  have  a  Family  where  I  could  with  pleasure  go, 
&  ask  them  a  hundred  Questions,  &  take  a  thousand  Liberties 
with  them,  that  I  cannot  do  in  any  Family  now  here,  I  shall 
Regret  their  absence,  but  I  am  Determin'd  to  make  a  point 
of  having  them  up,  for  I  cannot  attend  to  the  applications 
that  are  made  to  me  in  consequence  of  the  Treassurer's  ab 
sence  ;  he  must  come,  He  shall  come  if  I  have  any  influence. 

"Lucy  &  Nancy  call'd  on  me,  I  was  busy  over  papers; 
we  drank  a  glass  together  to  our  Baltimore  Friends,  I  waited 
on  them  home,  &  return'd  to  my  Cottage;  Jo  comes  in  with 
a  plate  of  minc'd  Veal,  that  I  must  stop,  I  shall  take  the 
plate  in  one  hand,  the  knife  in  the  other,  without  cloath, 
or  any  Comfort,  &  Eat  a  little  &  then  to  writing,  for  I  have 

1  Michael  Hillegas  was  one  of  the  two  joint  treasurers  of  the 
United  States,  holding  the  office  until  1789. 


President  of  Congress  221 

not  room  on  the  Table  to  put  a  plate,  I  am  up  to  the  eyes 
in  papers.  Adieu  for  the  present. 

"The  Inclosed  Letter  Lucy  just  sent  me  for  you.  — 
Supper  is  over,  no  Relish,  nor  shall  I  have  till  I  have  you 
here,  &  I  wish  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Hilligas  to  join  us  at  Supper  on 
Tuesday  Evening  when  I  shall  Expect  you.  I  shall  have 
Fires  made  &  everything  ready  for  your  Reception,  tho' 
I  dont  mean  to  hurry  you  beyond  measure,  do  as  you 
like,  don't  fatigue  yourself  in  Travelling  too  fast.  I  keep 
Josh  on  trial,  he  promises  Reformation,  he  knows  fully  his 
fate.  My  best  Regards  to  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Purviance,  to  Mr. 
Lay  &  Family,  Capt  Nicholson  &  wife,  Mr.  Stewart  &  wife  & 
all  Friends.  Tell  Mr.  Purviance  &  Capt.  Nicholson  I  shall 
write  them  fully  in  a  day  or  two  and  Determine  all  matters 
to  their  satisfaction,  I  am  so  worried  that  I  cannot  even 
steal  time  to  write  them  now.  Tell  Mr.  Purviance  I  Rec'd 
his  Letter  by  Post  and  will  forward  the  Letters  he  Inclosed 
me  to  Boston  &  Newbury  to-morrow.  Pray  let  Dr.  Wisen- 
hall  know  that  I  Re'd  his  Letter,  &  am  much  obliged  for 
his  attention  to  the  Child  and  that  I  will  do  everything 
in  my  power  for  the  Gentleman  who  he  mentions  in  his 
Letter,  you  will  Recompense  him  for  calling  to  see  the  Child. 

"Remember  me  to  all  the  Family.  If  Nancy  inclines 
to  come  in  the  Waggon  and  you  like  it  she  may  Come,  do 
as  you  like  in  every  instance  my  love  to  Miss  Katy,  tell  her 
if  anything  is  left  behind,  I  shall  have  at  her,  for  she  Ran- 
sack'd  when  we  left  Philadelphia  &  she  must  do  the  same 
now  — 

"The  Opinion  of  some  seems  to  be  that  the  Troops  will 
leave  New  York,  where  bound  none  yet  know;  one  thing 
I  know  that  they  can't  at  present  come  here,  perhaps  they 
are  going  to  Boston  or  up  North  River.  Time  will  discover. 
Never  fear,  we  shall  get  the  day  finally  with  the  smiles  of 
heaven. 

"Do  Take  precious  care  of  our  dear  little  Lydia. 


222  John  Hancock 

"Adieu.  I  long  to  see  you.  Take  Care  of  Yourself.  I 
am, 

"my  Dear  Girl 
"Yours  most  affectionately 
"JOHN  HANCOCK. 

"Do  let  Harry  Buy  &  bring  i  or  2  Bushells  of  Parsnips 
Bring  all  the  wine,  none  to  be  got  here."  l 

Such  was  the  plight  of  the  official  who  repre 
sented  the  presidency  in  the  inchoate  and  formative 
period  of  transition  from  colonial  to  national  life 
in  America.  The  externals  of  Congress  were 
primitive  enough;  there  was  no  Supreme  Court, 
and  no  imitation  of  the  Court  of  St.  James,  of 
which  Hancock  had  a  glimpse  sixteen  years  before. 
Now,  as  President  of  Congress  he  was  living  with 
a  servant  or  two  in  a  cottage,  his  state  papers,  his 
correspondence,  and  his  meals  a  good  deal  mixed 
on  a  single  table.  His  head  seems  to  be  in  a  simi 
lar  condition,  giving  his  long  epistles  the  saltatory 
style  of  a  writer  whose  mind  is  distracted  by  a 
diversity  of  cares,  to  which  is  added  the  manner  of 
a  husband  and  father  who  hurries  his  family's 
home-coming,  with  now  and  then  a  suspicion  that 
haste  may  be  inconvenient  to  them.  He  writes 
everything  as  it  comes  into  his  head,  forgetting 
sometimes  what  he  has  already  mentioned.  A 
vivid  imagination  is  not  needed  to  picture  Mrs. 
Hancock  reading  these  successive  letters.  Per 
haps  their  length  and  frequency  discouraged  her 
attempts  to  answer  them.  Evidently  she  waited 

1  "New  England  Magazine,"  Old  Series,  xn,  p.  535. 


President  of  Congress  223 

to  reply  in  person  when  she  should  have  accom 
plished  the  miles  from  Baltimore  to  Philadelphia. 
Her  stay  there,  however,  was  short.  The  heat  of 
the  city  made  it  desirable  to  take  herself  and  the 
child  into  Massachusetts,  leaving  her  husband  to 
fare  as  he  might  during  the  remainder  of  the  ses 
sion.  From  his  letters  it  is  plain  that  she  did  not 
improve  in  her  habits  of  correspondence.  From 
"York  Town,  October  18,  1777,"  he  wrote  :- 

"  MY  DEAR  DOLLY  :  I  am  now  at  this  Date  &  not  a  line 
from  you.  Not  a  single  word  have  I  heard  from  you  since 
your  letter  by  Dodd,  immediately  upon  your  arrival  at 
Worcester,  which  you  may  judge  affects  me  not  a  little,  but  I 
must  submit  &  will  only  say  that  I  expected  oftener  to  have 
been  the  object  of  your  attention. 

"This  is  my  sixth  letter  to  you.  The  former  ones  I  hope 
you  have  Rec'd,  by  the  Completion  of  those  Letters  you 
will  I  dare  say  be  apprehensive  that  my  stay  here  was 
nearly  Determined  for  the  winter  &  that  I  had  thoughts 
of  soliciting  your  Return  to  me.  My  thoughts  on  that 
subject  were  for  a  season  serious,  but  various  reasons  have 
occurred  to  induce  me  to  alter  my  Resolutions,  and  I  am 
now  to  inform  you  that  I  have  come  to  a  fixed  Determination 
to  Return  to  Boston  for  a  short  time  &  I  have  notified  Con 
gress  in  form  of  my  Intentions.  You  will  therefore  please 
immediately  on  Receipt  of  this  tell  Mr.  Spriggs  to  prepare 
the  light  Carriage  and  Four  Horses  &  himself  to  be  ready 
to  proceed  on  to  Hartford  or  Fairfield,  as  I  shall  hereafter 
direct  to  meet  me  on  the  Road.  If  my  old  Black  Horses  are 
not  able  to  perform  the  journey  he  must  hire  two.  The 
particular  Time  of  my  setting  out  &  when  (I  would  have 
Spriggs  come  forward)  you  shall  know  by  Dodd,  the  Ex 
press  who  I  shall  Dispatch  tomorrow  morning.  My  present 


224  J°hn  Hancock 

Intention  is  to  leave  Congress  in  eight  days,  but  more  par 
ticulars  in  my  next.  I  shall  hope  &  must  desire  that  you 
will  take  a  Seat  in  the  carriage  &  meet  me  on  the  Road, 
which  will  much  advantage  your  health,  &  you  may  be 
assured  will  be  highly  satisfactory  to  me,  &  I  have  desired 
Mr.  Bant  to  accompany  you  in  the  carriage  &  when  we  meet 
he  can  take  my  sulkey  and  I  return  with  you  in  the  carriage 
to  town.  Mr.  Bant  must  hire  or  borrow  a  Servant  to  at 
tend  you  on  Horse  back  as  Harry  &  Ned  are  both  with  me 
&  Joe  is  not  suitable.  My  dear  I  hope  your  health  will  ad 
mit  of  your  coming  with  Mr.  Bant.  I  long  to  see  you.  I 
shall  close  all  my  Business  in  three  Days  &  indeed  have 
already  nearly  finished,  &  when  once  I  set  out  shall  travel 
with  great  speed.  Nothing  shall  prevent  my  seeing  you 
soon  with  the  leave  of  providence;  but  a  prevention  of 
passing  the  North  River  I  shall  push  hard  to  get  over,  even 
if  I  go  as  far  as  Albany.  I  need  not  tell  you  there  will 
be  no  occasion  of  you  writing  me  after  the  receipt  of  this. 
My  best  wishes  attend  you  for  every  good.  I  have  much 
to  say,  which  I  leave  to  a  Cheerful  Evening  with  you  in 
person. 

"  God  Bless  you  my  Dear  Dolly 
"lam 

"Yours  most  affectionately 

"JOHN  HANCOCK."1 

The  reader  will  discern  a  faintly  imperative 
mood  in  this  letter,  owing  perhaps  to  the  neglect 
with  which  the  writer  thinks  he  has  been  treated, 
and  not  without  some  reason  for  his  opinion.  How 
ever,  he  is  not  so  cast  down  that  he  cannot  write 
once  more,  as  will  appear  later. 

Within  the  week  preceding  the  date  of  this  letter 

1 "  N.  E.  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,"  xn,  106. 


President  of  Congress  225 

Hancock  had  asked  Congress  for  two  months'  leave 
of  absence  in  the  following  communication :  — 

"GENTLEMEN:  Friday  last  completed  two  years  &  five 
months  since  you  did  me  the  honor  of  electing  me  to  fill 
this  chair.  As  I  could  never  flatter  myself  your  choice 
proceeded  from  any  idea  of  my  abilities,  but  rather  from 
a  partial  opinion  of  my  attachment  to  the  liberties  of  America, 
I  felt  myself  under  the  strongest  obligations  to  discharge 
the  duties  of  the  office,  and  I  accepted  the  appointment 
with  the  firmest  resolutions  to  go  through  the  business 
annexed  to  it  in  the  best  manner  I  was  able.  Every  argument 
conspired  to  make  me  exert  myself,  and  I  endeavored  by  in 
dustry  and  attention  to  make  up  for  every  other  deficiency. 

"As  to  my  conduct  both  in  &  out  of  Congress,  in  the 
execution  of  your  business,  it  is  improper  for  me  to  say  any 
thing.  You  are  the  best  judges.  But  I  think  I  shall  be 
forgiven  if  I  say  I  have  spared  no  expense,  or  labor,  to 
gratify  Your  wishes,  and  to  accomplish  the  views  of  Congress. 
My  health  being  much  impaired  I  find  some  relaxation  ab 
solutely  necessary  after  such  constant  application.  I  must 
therefore  request  Your  Indulgence  for  leave  of  absence  for 
two  months.  But  I  cannot  take  my  departure,  gentlemen, 
without  expressing  my  thanks  for  the  civility  &  politeness 
I  have  experienced  from  you.  It  is  impossible  to  maintain 
this  without  a  heartfelt  pleasure.  If  any  expressions  have 
dropped  from  my  lips  which  have  given  offence  to  any  mem 
ber  during  the  long  period  that  I  have  had  the  honor  to  fill 
this  chair,  I  hope  they  will  be  passed  over,  for  they  were 
prompted  by  no  unkind  motive. 

"May  every  happiness,  gentlemen,  attend  you,  both  as 
members  of  this  house  and  as  individuals,  and  I  pray 
Heaven  that  unanimity  &  perseverance  may  go  hand  in  hand 
in  this  house,  and  that  everything  which  may  tend  to  dis 
tract  or  divide  your  councils  be  forever  banished."  l 

1  "Mass.  State  Archives,"  Ms.  vol.  196,  p.  23. 


226  J°hn  Hancock 

In  response  to  this  address  a  motion  was  made 
on  the  day  when  he  took  leave  of  Congress  to  pre 
sent  him  with  the  thanks  of  that  body  for  the  ad 
mirable  discharge  of  his  duties;  but  opposition 
came  from  an  unexpected  quarter  when  New  Eng 
land  delegates,  for  reasons  of  their  own,  defeated 
the  motion  on  the  pretence  that  it  was  injudicious 
to  pass  complimentary  resolutions  in  the  case  of 
any  president.  Samuel  Adams  got  the  credit 
of  being  responsible  for  this  affront,  which  Hancock 
resented  to  the  extent  of  breaking  with  his  friend 
after  his  return  to  Boston.  In  this  he  had  nu 
merous  partisans  to  join  with  him,  to  the  dis 
advantage  of  Adams  and  to  the  maintenance  of  an 
ill-feeling  which  lasted  for  years.  Hancock  had 
not  forgotten  the  matter  of  electing  a  commander- 
in-chief,  in  which  both  the  Adamses  were  active 
and  influential,  overlooking  merits  which  he  at 
least  thought  worthy  of  consideration.  Here  was 
an  opportunity  to  atone  in  part  for  that  slight 
which  his  colleagues  had  not  only  neglected,  but 
had  added  another  indignity  to  the  first,  when  a 
compliment  would  have  been  freely  paid  him  by 
general  consent.  The  entire  question  of  the  en 
mity  between  Hancock  and  Adams  is  not  settled 
by  mention  of  any  single  cause  or  occasion.  They 
were  members  of  two  parties  that  sprang  up  in 
Congress;  they  belonged  to  two  divergent  social 
castes ;  their  habits  of  thought  and  views  of  policy 
were  not  alike ;  their  ambitions  were  in  different 


President  of  Congress  227 

directions,  and  there  was  no  strong  tie  to  bind  them 
closer  as  the  Revolution  proceeded  towards  the 
organization  of  a  new  republic,  where  each  man 
should  find  his  own.  The  early  need  of  each  for 
the  other  vanished :  soon  it  was  to  be  every  man 
for  himself. 

In  a  fortnight  from  the  date  of  his  last  letter  to 
his  wife  he  was  on  his  way  toward  Boston  and 
wrote  the  following  letter  to  her :  — 

"DOVER  (within  60  miles  of  Hartford) 
"Saturday  i  of  Clock 
"8  Nov.  1777. 

"  MY  DEAR  :  I  am  thus  far  on  my  journey  to  meet  you, 
thank  Luck  for  it.  I  have  gone  thro'  many  Difficulties 
on  the  Road,  but  that  I  shall  not  mind.  The  Remembrance 
of  these  Difficulties  will  vanish  when  I  have  the  happiness 
of  seeing  You.  I  am  still  obliged  to  have  my  foot  wrapped 
up  in  Baize,  but  I  brave  all  these  things.  I  hire  this  person 
to  carry  You  this  letter  in  Confidence  it  will  meet  You  at 
Hartford.  I  shall  get  along  as  fast  as  I  can,  but  having 
a  party  of  Light  horse  with  me  I  do 'not  travel  so  fast  as 
I  otherwise  should.  What  if  you  should  on  Monday  morn 
ing  set  out  to  meet  me,  on  the  Litchfield  Road  &  then  if  I 
am  not  able  to  reach  Hartford  that  day,  I  shall  have  the  sat 
isfaction  of  seeing  You  on  the  Road.  If  you  think  the  ride 
will  be  too  much  I  would  not  have  you  undertake  it,  but 
I  hope  You  will  not  ride  many  miles  before  we  shall  meet, 
as  I  trust  Mr.  Bant  is  with  you.  my  Regd's  to  him,  my 
best  wishes  attend  him.  Remember  me  to  Mrs.  Collier 
for  I  suppose  you  are  there.  I  am  sorry  I  cannot  take 
Fairfield  in  my  way  but  I  crossed  so  high  up  it  was  not 
possible.  I  have  much  to  say,  but  refer  all  to  the  happy 


228  John  Hancock 

time  when  I  shall  be  with  you.     God  bless  you  —  my  dear 
girl,  and  believe  me  with  sincere  affection 

"Yours  forever, 

"JOHN  HANCOCK. 

"Mrs.  McDagle  this  moment  comes  into  the  Tavern  & 
is  going  to  dine  with  us."  * 

According  to  his  request  and  arrangements  his 
wife  met  him  on  the  road,  as  implied  in  a  paragraph 
in  a  Hartford  newspaper  of  November  19:  "On 
Friday  last  passed  through  this  town,  escorted  by 
a  party  of  light  dragoons,  the  Hon.  John  Hancock, 
President  of  the  American  Congress,  with  his  lady, 
on  his  way  to  Boston,  after  an  absence,  on  public 
business,  of  more  than  two  and  a  half  years." 
But  the  wife  came  without  the  child,  who  had 
died  during  the  summer  stay  in  Massachusetts. 

It  was  safe  travelling  in  New  England  after  the 
Hudson  River  was  crossed,  the  British  being  occu 
pied  elsewhere ;  but  the  official  station  of  the  Presi 
dent  of  Congress  and  the  sentiment  of  the  time, 
together  with  its  agreement  with  Hancock's  own 
sense  of  his  position,  required  a  display  commen 
surate  with  its  importance.  This  was  confirmed 
by  the  cordial  demonstrations  of  welcome  which 
attended  his  arrival  home,  as  reported  in  the 
" Pennsylvania  Ledger." 

"This  day  arrived  at  Boston  in  Massachusetts,  under  an 
escort  of  American  light  dragoons,  the  Honorable  John 
Hancock,  Esq.,  President  of  the  American  Congress,  and 

1  Wales  Ms.  printed  in  Brown's  "His  Book,"  p.  222. 


President  of  Congress  229 

first  major-general  of  the  militia  of  that  state.  By  his  com 
ing  into  town  sooner  than  was  expected  he  avoided  some 
public  marks  of  respect  which  would  otherwise  have  been 
paid  him;  his  arrival  was  made  known  by  ringing  the  bells, 
the  discharge  of  thirteen  cannon  of  Colonel  Craft's  park  of 
artillery  on  the  common,  the  cannon  on  the  fortress  on  Fort 
Hill,  and  the  shipping  in  the  harbor.  The  independent 
and  light  infantry  companies  paid  him  their  military  salutes. 
He  received  the  compliments  of  gentlemen  of  all  orders; 
and  every  indication  was  given  of  the  sense  the  public  has 
of  his  important  services  to  the  American  cause."  l 

Hancock  was  not  so  puffed  up  by  his  exalted 
station  in  Congress  as  to  despise  the  position  of 
moderator  in  a  town-meeting  which  was  called 
soon  after  his  arrival  home,  to  which  he  was  unani 
mously  chosen,  as  also  at  another  meeting  a  week 
later.  At  the  first  one,  held  on  December  8,  the 
thanks  of  the  town  were  voted  him  for  the  donation 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  cords  of  wood  to  the  poor 
in  a  time  of  distress.  In  the  first  month  of  the  new 
year,  1778,  a  meeting  of  the  State  representatives 
was  held,  when  the  Articles  of  Confederation  and 
perpetual  Union  between  the  United  States  of 
America  which  had  been  framed  by  Congress  came 
up  for  discussion  and  ratification.  Massachusetts 
was  specially  favored  in  having  Hancock  in  the 

1  Cited  in  "Old  Boston  Days  and  Ways,"  Crawford,  p.  250. 

There  was  a  man  who  could  write  to  a  sympathetic  friend : 
"Pray,  my  Friend,  what  occasioned  the  very  sudden  Return  of 
Mr.  H.  ?  He  arrived  quite  unexpected.  Various  are  the  con 
jectures  for  the  true  Cause  ;  his  Friends  say  the  airs  of  Philadelphia 
doth  not  suit  him."  —  Letter  of  Savage  to  S.  Adams  from  Boston, 
2d  July,  1778.  —  "Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Proc.,"  1910,  p.  333 


230  J°hn  Hancock 

chair  to  set  forth  reasons  why  this  and  that  pro 
vision  had 'been  inserted.  It  is  not  improbable 
that  his  return  had  been  timed  with  reference  to 
this  action  of  his  native  State,  which  he  would 
wish  to  have  concurrent  with  the  final  decisions 
of  Congress;  a  result  not  to  be  secured  in  some 
States  with  ready  unanimity,  nor  without  a  repetition 
of  congressional  debates.  John  Adams  might  have 
had  another  explanation  of  Hancock's  return,  like 
the  one  he  recorded  in  his  Diary  the  year  before :  — 

"Mr.  Hancock  told  C.  W.  yesterday,  that  he  had  deter 
mined  to  go  to  Boston  in  April.  Mrs.  Hancock  was  not 
willing  to  go  till  May,  but  Mr.  Hancock  was  determined 
upon  April.  Perhaps  the  choice  of  a  Governor  may  come 
on  in  May.  What  aspiring  little  creatures  we  are !  How 
subtle,  sagacious,  and  judicious  this  passion  is !  How 
clearly  it  sees  its  object,  how  constantly  it  pursues  it,  and 
what  wise  plans  it  devises  for  obtaining  it ! "  1 

It  is  not  always  easy  to  reconcile  the  sentiments 
of  John  Adams  about  John  Hancock  at  different 
times.  William  Cunningham  in  1791  reminds 
Adams  that  on  one  occasion  in  his  own  house,  — 

"You  turned  yourself  towards  your  front  door,  and 
pointing  to  a  spot  in  view,  you  laughingly  exclaimed,  'yes, 
there  is  the  place  where  the  great  John  Hancock  was  born. 
.  .  .  John  Hancock !  a  man  without  head  and  without 
heart !  —  the  mere  shadow  of  a  man  !  —  and  yet  a  Governor 
of  old  Massachusetts! ' " 

But  in  a  letter  to  Judge  Tudor,  June  5,  1813, 
Adams  wrote :  — 

1 "  Life  and  Works  of  John  Adams,"  n,  435- 


President  of  Congress  231 

"The  two  young  men  whom  I  have  known  to  enter  the 
stage  of  life  with  the  most  luminous,  unclouded  prospects, 
and  the  best  founded  hopes,  were  James  Otis  and  John 
Hancock.  They  were  both  essential  to  the  Revolution, 
and  both  fell  sacrifices  to  it.  ...  They  were  the  first 
movers,  the  most  constant,  steady,  persevering  springs, 
agents,  and  most  disinterested  sufferers,  and  firmest  pillars, 
of  the  whole  Revolution." 

And  in  a  letter  to  Rev.  Jedediah  Morse,  D.D., 
in  1818,  he  wrote :  — 

"Of  Mr.  Hancock's  life,  character,  generous  nature, 
great  and  distinguished  sacrifices  and  important  services, 
if  I  had  forces,  I  should  be  glad  to  write  a  volume.  But 
this  I  hope  will  be  done  by  some  younger  and  abler  hand." 1 

Hancock  was  living  when  the  invidious  remark 
was  made  to  Cunningham.  He  had  been  dead 
twenty  and  twenty-five  years  respectively  when  the 
letters  were  penned  by  Adams;  an  instance  of  the 
adjustments  which  time  often  makes.  An  English 
author2  thinks  that  he  was  to  some  degree  actu 
ated  by  a  malevolent  feeling  towards  Hancock,  and 
declares  that  he  was  mentally  and  morally  incapa 
ble  of  discerning  high  merit  in  any  one  but  himself. 

A  pleasant  contrast  to  the  sneering  insinuations 
of  John  Adams  is  revealed  in  the  letter  of  Washing 
ton  to  Hancock  on  the  eve  of  his  departure,  in 
reply  to  one  from  the  latter  containing  a  notice  of 
his  intention  to  retire  from  the  chairmanship.  It 

1  Loring's  "Boston  Orators,"  p.  116. 

2  Henry  Belcher,  in  "First  American  Civil  War,"  n,  5. 


232  J°hn  Hancock 

was  similar  to  that  which  he  had  laid  before  Con 
gress,  containing  this  additional  sentence :  — 

"As  the  Congress  will  doubtless  proceed  to  appoint  a 
successor  in  my  stead,  on  him  therefore  will  devolve  the 
business  of  the  chair.  The  politeness  and  attention  I  have 
ever  experienced  from  you,  in  the  course  of  our  correspond 
ence,  will  always  be  the  source  of  the  most  pleasing  satisfac 
tion  to  me." 

Washington  thereupon  wrote:  — 

"HEAD-QUARTERS,  22  October,  1777. 
"DEAR  SIR, 

"It  gives  me  real  pain  to  learn,  that  the  declining  state 
of  your  health,  owing  to  your  unwearied  attention  to  public 
business,  and  the  situation  of  your  private  affairs,  oblige 
you  to  relinquish  a  station,  though  but  for  a  time,  which 
you  have  long  rilled  with  acknowledged  propriety.  Mo 
tives  as  well  of  a  personal  as  of  a  general  concern  make  me 
regret  the  necessity  that  compels  you  to  retire,  and  to  wish 
your  absence  from  office  may  be  of  as  short  duration  as 
possible.  In  the  progress  of  that  intercourse,  which  has 
necessarily  subsisted  between  us,  the  manner  in  which  you 
have  conducted  it  on  your  part,  accompanied  with  every 
expression  of  politeness  and  regard  to  me,  gives  you  a  claim 
to  my  warmest  acknowledgements. 

"I  am  not  so  well  informed  of  the  situation  of  things 
up  the  North  River,  as  to  be  able  to  give  you  any  satisfac 
tory  advice  about  your  route.  I  should  rather  apprehend 
it  might  be  unsafe  for  you  to  travel  that  way  at  this  time, 
and  would  recommend,  if  you  can  do  it  without  any  material 
inconvenience,  that  you  should  defer  your  journey  till  there 
is  some  change  in  affairs  there,  or  till  they  have  taken  a  more 
settled  form.  If  you  should,  however,  resolve  to  proceed 
immediately,  and  will  be  pleased  to  signify  the  time,  an  es 
cort  of  horse  will  meet  you  at  Bethlehem,  to  accompany 


President  of  Congress  233 

you  to  General  Putnam's  camp,  where  you  will  be  furnished 
with  another  escort  in  the  further  prosecution  of  your  journey. 
"  I  am  extremely  obliged  to  you  for  your  polite  tender  of 
services  during  your  intended  residence  at  Boston,  and  shall 
always  be  happy,  when  leisure  and  opportunity  permit,  if 
you  will  give  me  the  pleasure  of  hearing  from  you.  I  have 
the  honor  to  be,  &c."  * 

On  one  occasion  at  least,  it  appears  by  the  fore 
going  letter,  safety  demanded  the  attendance  of  a 
troop,  which  Hancock's  maligners  attributed  to 
his  love  of  display.  Some  of  them  illustrated 
the  partisan  spleen  of  the  day  by  saying  that  tavern 
keepers  had  to  pursue  the  company  to  get  pay  for 
their  entertainment;  which  assertion  bears  the 
myth-mark  of  a  fragment  left 'on  the  highway  by 
some  bankrupt  circus  rather  than  a  part  of  the 
itinerary  of  John  Hancock  travelling  at  the  coun 
try's  expense  or  his  own.2  Of  course  the  chief 
value  of  the  two  letters  is  their  testimony  to  the 

1  Sparks'  "Washington's  Writings,"  v,  106. 

2  It  is  of  a  piece  with  this  paragraph  in  the  "Pennsylvania 
Ledger"  of  March  n,  1778 :  — 

"John  Hancock  of  Boston  appears  in  public  with  all  the  state 
and  pageantry  of  an  Oriental  prince ;  he  rides  in  an  elegant  chariot 
which  was  taken  in  a  prize  to  the  Civil  Usage  pirate  vessel,  and  by 
the  owners  presented  to  him.  He  is  attended  by  four  servants 
dressed  in  superb  livery,  mounted  on  fine  horses  richly  capari 
soned;  and  escorted  by  fifty  horsemen  with  drawn  sabres,  the 
one  half  of  whom  precede  and  the  other  follow  his  carriage." 

On  some  occasion  of  ceremony,  doubtless,  as  the  author  of 
"Old  Boston  Days  and  Ways"  suggests  when  citing  the  above 
newspaper  correspondent  on  page  275.  Even  the  Spartan  Samuel 
Adams  once  rode  in  Hancock's  coach  drawn  by  six  horses  on  the 
occasion  of  M.  Gerard's  arrival  as  the  first  French  ambassador  to 


234  J°hn  Hancock 

cordial  relations  existing  between  the  two  principal 
officials,  civil  and  military,  in  a  time  when  there 
were  jealousies,  rivalries,  and  plottings  enough 
to  imperil  the  cause  for  which  all  pretended  to 
be  working,  and  that  more  than  once  came  near 
ruining  it;  as  in  the  instances  of  General  Charles 
Lee's  disloyalty,  the  Conway  cabal's  scheming 
against  Washington,  and  Arnold's  treason.  There 
was  nothing  in  the  attitude  of  these  two  principals 
beyond  a  stately  ceremoniousness  characteristic  of 
the  age  in  which  they  lived  and  the  caste  to  which 
they  belonged. 

The  anniversary  of  the  " Massacre"  was  to  be 
kept  in  Boston  for  five  years  more  before  it  should 
be  superseded  by  the  national  celebration  of  the 
Fourth  of  July.  On  its  eighth  return,  1778,  Jon 
athan  William  Austin  was  the  orator  at  the  Old 
Brick  Meeting-House.  John  Hancock  presided 
as  the  foremost  citizen  at  the  Faneuil  Hall  meeting, 
recalling  his  own  performance  four  years  earlier. 
Four  days  later  he  took  the  chair  at  the  annual  elec 
tion  of  town  officers,  but  was  called  to  the  House 
of  Representatives  on  the  following  day.  On  the 
27th  he  was  again  presiding,  as  if  there  were  no 
other  man  in  Boston  who  could  satisfy  its  people. 
And  when  on  May  27  seven  men  were  to  be  chosen 
to  represent  the  town  in  the  General  Court,  Han 
cock  received  three  hundred  and  thirty-five  votes, 

the  United  States.  But  he  seldom  used  the  coach  presented  him 
when  governor,  returning  it  at  the  end  of  his  term. 


President  of  Congress  235 

the  largest  number  given  any  candidate.  His  popu 
larity  was  undiminished  and  his  usefulness  at  home 
unimpaired  by  his  malady,  to  all  appearances. 

He  had  now  been  absent  from  Congress  six 
months,  with  what  rest  from  parliamentary  prac 
tice  his  townsmen  would  allow  him,  and  his  own 
willingness  to  be  employed.  An  additional  reason 
for  his  prolonged  stay  may  be  found  in  the  expected 
arrival  of  another  child,  who  was  born  May  21, 
and  named  John  George  Washington,  an  intended 
compliment  to  the  Commander-in- Chief,  to  which 
he  could  have  not  been  insensible,  and  an  evidence 
of  Hancock's  continued  regard  for  him.  The 
former  President  was  soon  back  in  Congress  as  a 
deputy,  and  on  the  23d  of  June  was  writing  to  his 
wife  from  Yorktown  whither  the  deputies  had 
taken  themselves  after  the  occupation  of  Phila 
delphia  by  Sir  William  Howe. 

"YORK  TOWN,  June  23,  1778. 

"MY  DEAREST  DOLLY:  —  Mr.  Taylor  having  agree 
ably  to  his  wish  been  Charg'd  with  some  Dispatches  for  our 
Commissioners  in  France,  sets  off  for  Boston  immediately 
&  to  Sail  from  thence  as  Soon  as  the  Packett  is  ready,  by 
him  I  embrace  the  oppor'y  of  writing  you,  altho'  I  wrote 
you  Two  Letters  the  Day  before  yesterday,  &  this  is  my 
Seventh  Letter,  and  not  one  word  have  I  heard  from  you 
since  your  departure  from  Boston.  I  am  as  well  as  the 
peculiar  scituation  of  this  place  will  admit,  but  I  can  by  no 
means  in  justice  to  myself  continue  long  under  such  dis 
agreeable  Circumstances,  I  mean  in  point  of  Living,  the 
mode  is  so  very  different  from  what  I  have  always  been 
accustom'd  to,  that  to  continue  it  long  would  prejudice 


236  John  Hancock 

my  health  exceedingly.  This  moment  the  Post  arriv'd, 
and  to  my  very  great  Surprise  and  Disappointment  not  a 
single  line  from  Boston;  I  am  not  dispos'd  to  Resent,  but  it 
feels  exceedingly  hard  to  be  slighted  and  neglect'd  by  those 
from  whom  I  have  a  degree  of  Right  to  expect  different 
Conduct ;  I  would  have  hir'd  any  one  to  have  sent  a  few 
Lines  just  to  let  me  know  the  State  of  your  health,  but  I 
must  Endeavor  not  to  be  so  Anxious  &  be  as  easy  as  some 
others  seem  to  be.  I  will  expect  no  letters  nor  write  any, 
&  then  there  will  be  no  Disappointment;  So  much  for 
that.  To  be  serious,  I  shall  write  no  more  till  I  hear  from 
you,  this  is  agreeable  to  my  former  promise.  It  really  is 
not  kind,  when  you  must  be  sensible  that  I  must  have 
been  very  anxious  about  you  &  the  little  one.  Devote 
a  little  time  to  write  me,  it  will  please  me  much  to  hear 
of  you,  I  am  sure  you  are  dispos'd  to  oblige  me,  &  I  pray 
I  may  not  be  disappointed  in  my  opinion  of  your  Disposi 
tion. 

"  I  hope  this  will  meet  you  tolerably  Recover'd  from  your 
late  confinement,  I  wish  to  hear  of  your  being  below  Stairs 
&  able  to  take  care  of  our  Dear  little  one.  I  am  much  con- 
cern'd  about  your  improving  the  fine  Season  in  Riding.  I  am 
sorry  I  did  not  take  hir'd  horses  &  leave  you  mine,  but  I  beg 
you  to  spare  no  Cost  in  Riding  for  the  Establishment  and 
Continuance  of  your  health,  hire  horses  whenever  you  are 
dispos'd  to  Ride,  be  as  frugal  &  prudent  in  other  matters 
as  is  consistent  with  our  Scituation;  I  wish  to  know  every 
Occurence  since  my  departure,  pray  be  particular  as  to  your 
health  in  your  Letters  &  give  me  an  exact  state  of  little  John. 
Does  Mrs.  Brackett  intend  continuing  with  you  ?  I  beg  she 
may  at  least  until  my  Return.  My  love  to  her,  pray  her  to 
take  great  care  of  the  little  fellow.  As  soon  as  the  City  of 
Phila  is  cleansed,  I  judge  Congress  will  remove  thither,  &  as 
soon  as  we  have  got  over  the  important  Business  now  before 
Congress  I  shall  solicit  leave  to  Return  home,  as  it  will  not 


President  of  Congress  237 

be  necessary  for  so  many  of  our  Members  to  be  here,  but  of 
this  more  hereafter. 

"As  I  have  wrote  so  many  Letters  &  see  no  Returns,  & 
as  I  am  called  to  attend  Congress,  I  must  Refer  you  to  Mr. 
Taylor  for  every  particular  relative  to  our  Scituation. 

"  My  regards  to  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Bant,  my  Brother  &  Sister, 
&  indeed  to  all  Friends  as  if  nam'd.  Remember  me  to  Sprigs 
and  Harry,  &  to  all  in  the  Family. 

"Do  let  me  have  frequent  Letters,  you  will  oblige  me 
much.  My  best  wishes  ever  attend  you  for  the  highest 
Felicity,  &  I  am  with  the  utmost  Affection  and  Love. 

"Yours  For  ever, 

"JOHN  HANCOCK."  l 

The  "important  business"  before  Congress  which 
he  mentions  in  this  letter  had  brought  him  back  as 
a  delegate,  as  Henry  Laurens  of  South  Carolina  had 
been  elected  President  in  his  place  on  November 
i,  1777,  after  his  departure  for  Boston.  Tidings 
of  the  treaty  with  France  had  been  received  in 
April,  1778 ;  Lord  North's  olive-branch  commission, 
granting  all  that  the  colonies  had  originally  claimed, 
had  arrived  to  divide  and  divert  the  colonials,  to 
which  Congress  replied  in  effect  that  when  the  king 
and  Parliament  should  be  disposed  to  put  an  end  to 
the  war  they  would  attend  to  his  proposals  as  an 
independent  nation.2  The  embassy  failing,  the 
war  went  on,  although  desertions  and  financial 
troubles  were  disheartening  its  supporters,  and  in 
both  the  army  and  Congress  intriguers  were  at- 

1  "New  England  Magazine,"  Old  Series,  xn,  p.  537. 

2  More  fully  stated  in  "Britain  and  her  Rivals,"  Arthur  D. 
Innes  ;  London,  1895,  p.  300. 


238  John  Hancock 

tempting  to  supplant  Washington,  their  only  hope. 
In  the  midst  of  the  general  darkness  the  sky  cleared 
over  Philadelphia  when,  after  the  famous  farewell 
banquet  to  Loyalist  friends,  in  which  Major  Andre 
figured,  General  Clinton  led  the  British  army  out 
toward  New  York,  and  the  American  army  took 
its  place  on  June  18  under  Arnold's  command. 
Then  a  part  of  Congress  was  glad  to  get  back  to 
its  old  quarters  on  July  first;  but  a  week  later, 
in  the  lack  of  a  quorum,  President  Laurens,  "as 
an  individual,"  congratulated  Washington  upon  his 
success  at  the  Battle  of  Monmouth  ten  days  be 
fore.  On  the  seventh,  however,  a  sufficient  number 
assembled  to  pass  commendatory  resolutions  for 
Washington's  activity  in  pursuit,  and  general  effi 
ciency  in  battle  in  gaining  an  important  victory. 
They  might  have  added :  despite  the  treacherous 
retreat  of  General  Lee,  by  which  the  partial  victory 
came  near  being  turned  into  a  defeat.  As  it  hap 
pened,  by  the  personal  valor  of  the  commander, 
the  field  was  recovered  and  another  impulse  given 
to  the  rising  tide  of  confidence. 

According  to  his  intention,  expressed  in  the  last 
letter  to  his  wife,  Hancock  left  for  home  soon  after 
the  return  of  Congress  to  Philadelphia.  He  nat 
urally  found  less  interest  in  its  proceedings  than 
when  he  was  chairman  of  a  deliberative  body  whose 
distinction  for  ability  and  wisdom  was  greater 
than  it  had  lately  been,  and  some  of  whose  members 
had  not  been  contributing  to  the  success  of  the 


President  of  Congress  239 

cause  by  their  disloyalty  to  the  Commander-in- 
Chief .  It  is  more  than  probable,  too,  that  absence 
from  home,  the  infrequency  of  his  wife's  letters,  the 
comparative  solitude  of  his  lodgings,  and  the  im 
paired  condition  of  his  health  made  longer  residence 
in  Philadelphia  less  endurable  than  formerly. 

On  his  arrival  in  Boston  the  first  week  in  August 
he  was  chosen  moderator  of  a  town-meeting  which 
had  a  matter  to  consider  second  in  importance  to 
none  that  had  arisen  since  the  declaration  of  in 
dependence.  He  was  also  chosen  chairman  of  a 
committee  appointed  to  consider  the  question  and 
report  at  a  future  meeting.  This  question  was  in 
brief,  —  What  answer  shall  be  returned  to  Loyal 
ists  who  were  seeking  to  return  to  Boston,  and  what 
policy  shall  be  pursued  toward  them  in  the  future  ? 

It  could  not  be  expected  that  Tories  would  ob 
tain  mercy  at  the  hands  of  the  Whigs  during  the 
war,  nor  that  the  hatred  and  prejudice  against 
them  would  die  out  in  that  generation  or  even  the 
traditional  stigma  of  their  position  in  the  next. 
From  the  patriot  side  they  were  regarded  as  a  part 
of  the  royal  forces  fighting  with  the  king  against 
their  countrymen  and  the  liberties  which  had  been 
allowed  them  by  previous  monarchs,  and  later, 
against  the  independence  which  a  growing  majority 
was  trying  to  secure.  It  was  of  no  avail  to  remind 
Whigs  that  before  1770  every  inhabitant  of  the 
land  was  a  Tory,  some  grumbling  against  the 
throne  and  ministry  according  to  the  right  and 


240  J°hn  Hancock 

habit  of  true  Britons  everywhere,  but  for  five 
years  from  that  time  having  no  thought  of  more 
than  a  reform  of  recent  legislation  and  the  repeal 
of  a  new  king's  oppressive  enactments.  Neither 
was  it  to  any  purpose  to  remind  Whigs  that  Tories 
belonged  to  the  conservative  party  of  wealth, 
influence,  prosperity,  and  respectability,  which 
had  more  to  lose  than  the  shifty  populace,  without 
property  or  business  interests,  who  had  formed  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  revolutionary  movement  at 
first,  as  distinguished  from  the  solid  men  who  pre 
ferred  to  endure  minor  ills  if  thereby  they  should 
escape  the  greater  ones  which  they  foresaw  in  the 
breaking  up  of  stable  foundations.  All  at  once  or 
by  rapid  transfer  these  colonial  upper-class  people 
became  political  criminals  and  enemies  to  the 
leaders  of  revolt,  and  especially  to  their  followers, 
who  were  always  ready  for  rough  methods  of  con 
verting  the  aristocracy  to  their  own  side,  even  though 
at  an  occasional  and  material  profit  to  themselves. 
In  theory  a  republic  was  better  than  a  monarchy ; 
liberty  than  dependence:  why  should  not  every 
body  strike  for  freedom?  Tories  answered:  Be 
cause  your  republic  is  as  uncertain  as  the  future, 
with  drawbacks  that  are  now  unthought  of  but  sure 
to  appear.  Moreover  a  war  of  indefinite  duration 
and  uncertain  outcome  lies  between  you  and  pos 
sible  achievement  or  probable  failure,  with  all  that 
this  means  to  rebels.  We  prefer  to  pay  a  three 
penny  tax  and  continue  loyal  citizens  of  an  empire 


President  of  Congress  241 

which  in  the  long  run  has  held  a  foremost  place 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth.1 

Accordingly  they  were  at  first  counted  as  aliens 
by  the  insurgent  class,  then  as  enemies,  and  by  the 
issue  of  the  war  they  became  outcasts.  To  be  sure, 
their  negative  attitude  at  first  did  not  continue, 
but  changed  into  a  hostile  disposition  in  retalia 
tion  for  persecutions  inflicted.  There  is  not  much 
to  say  for  the  credit  of  either  party  in  a  civil  war 
which  went  on  within  the  war  with  Great  Britain. 
If  the  Tories  had  seen  the  crown  triumph  their  treat 
ment  of  the  rebels,  as  they  called  the  Whigs,  might 
have  been  no  better  than  they  themselves  received. 
The  human  nature  of  a  single  race  is  not  changed 
by  party  names  or  the  fortune  of  war.  Therefore 
it  is  an  interesting  speculation  to  conjecture  what 
a  victorious  Tory  party  would  have  done  with 
defeated  Patriots.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  Samuel 
Adams  and  John  Hancock  would  have  been  sent 
to  England  for  trial  if  not  for  execution  as  traitors ; 
but  towards  the  people  at  large  there  was  a  growing 
spirit  of  conciliation  as  the  war  went  on,  for  reasons 
which  cannot  be  detailed  here.  It  is  unfortunate 
that  it  cannot  be  said  with  equal  truth  that  as  the 
patriot  cause  looked  more  hopeful,  and  even  when 
independence  was  assured,  the  hostility  toward 

1  "  The  first  ebullition  of  popular  patriotism  had  evaporated ; 
and  while  all  clamored  about  freedom,  each  wished  to  make  as 
few  sacrifices  as  possible  in  order  to  obtain  it."  Robert  Sears'3 
"  Pictorial  History  of  the  American  Revolution,"  p.  205. 


242  John  Hancock 

resident  or  banished  Loyalists  was  diminished. 
During  the  war  every  species  of  intimidation  had 
been  used  to  bring  them  into  the  patriot  ranks; 
indignities  not  usually  practised  in  dignified  war 
fare  had  been  thrust  upon  them.  Eighty-five 
thousand  had  been  driven  into  Canadian  exile 
alone,  besides  other  thousands  who  had  fled  to  other 
British  possessions,  leaving  houses  and  lands, 
business  and  friends.  Confiscation  followed  exile, 
with  poverty  and  distress  in  strange  and  inhos 
pitable  regions.  The  Acadian  story  which  excites 
American  sympathy  has  at  least  the  mitigating 
feature  of  removal  southward  to  gentler  climes; 
while  the  colonial  dispersion  was  chiefly  into  north 
ern  latitudes,  which  our  Saxon  ancestors  used  to 
designate  as  the  domain  of  a  chilly  goddess  with  a 
name  which,  by  a  singular  inversion  of  meaning, 
and  the  addition  of  one  letter  now  belongs  to  a  place 
of  fiery  torment.  So  the  exiles  themselves  used  to 
place  in  the  same  category  "Hell,  Hull,  and  Halifax." 
Nor  did  the  British  troops  have  a  better  opinion  of 
the  chief  city,  which  they  called ' '  a  cursed  cold,  wintry 
place,  even  yet  (April  18).  Nothing  to  eat,  and  less 
to  drink."  However,  they  had  only  two  months  of  it, 
for  on  June  7  they  embarked  for  New  York.  But  the 
fifteen  hundred  refugees  were  left  in  Canada  to  shift 
for  themselves  in  suffering  and  privation  wherever 
they  could  find  a  foothold.  After  two  years  they 
were  now  asking  to  be  allowed  to  return  to  their  be 
loved  Boston.  In  the  words  of  one  of  their  number, 


President  of  Congress  243 

they  had  been  "Loth  to  quit  this  Shore  and  will  be 
Loth,  while  there  is  a  glimmering  of  Hope  of  return 
ing  to  their  beloved  abode  in  Peace  and  credit."  1 
Their  appeal  was  now  before  Hancock  and  his 
committee  to  consider  and  report  to  the  Legisla 
ture.  The  consideration  was  deliberate  and  the 
report  delayed;  but  when  at  length  it  was  made 
the  form  of  it  was  as  follows :  — 

"Resolved-—  that  the  Inhabitants  of  this  Town  will 
exert  themselves  to  the  utmost  in  supporting  the  Civil 
Magistrate  in  the  execution  of  this  Law,  [against  the  Tories}, 
that  those  professed  Enemies  to  our  Rights  and  Liberties, 
the  first  fomentors  of  our  present  Troubles,  who  have  left 
this  Country  and  aided  the  British  Tyrant  in  his  worse  than 
savage  measures,  to  deprive  Americans  of  everything  that 
ought  to  be  held  dear  and  sacred  by  any  People,  may  not 
return  and  enjoy  in  common,  the  fruits  of  what  our  immortal 
Patriots,  have  toil'd  and  bled  to  procure  us,  and  in  some 
future  time  to  be  again  the  base  and  cursed  Instruments  of 
British  Seducers,  in  involving  a  happy  People  in  confusion  and 
bloodshed,  in  order  to  realize  the  reward,  and  private  advan 
tages  held  out  to  such  Traitors  by  the  enemies  of  America." 

This  reply,  which  is  in  the  style  of  Hancock, 
seems  like  a  harsh  answer  to  his  old  acquaintances 

1  "Letters  of  James  Murray,  Loyalist,"  p.  273.  The  clergy  of 
the  Church  of  England  here  naturally  were  loyalists.  "  Other 
clergymen  were  with  the  people,  of  the  people,  and  ministers  to  the 
people."  —  Bancroft,  "Hist.  U.  S.,"  vm,  185.  This  recalls  Lin 
coln's  paraphrase  at  Gettysburg;  but  Webster  anticipated  both 
when  he  said:  "It  is,  sir,  the  people's  constitution,  the  people's 
government ;  made  for  the  people,  made  by  the  people,  and  an 
swerable  to  the  people."  —  "Second  Reply  to  Hayne,"  Jan. 
26,  1830. 


244  J°hn  Hancock 

now  in  the  desolate  places  of  Nova  Scotia;  but 
the  case  against  Tories  as  a  body  is  not  overstated. 
As  early  as  the  spring  of  1775  there  was  an  associa 
tion  of  Loyalists  in  Massachusetts  "for  mutual 
defence  against  the  rebels."  After  the  Lexington 
affair,  those  in  Boston  formed  themselves  into  a 
Volunteer  Corps  and  insisted  on  staying  in  town 
to  stand  between  the  colonials  and  the  British 
troops.  They  had  opposed  sending  provisions  to 
the  besieged  inhabitants ;  had  urged  the  British 
government  to  strong  action,  and  the  soldiery  to 
violence  against  the  Whigs,  while  they  denounced 
Gage's  inactivity.  It  was  worse  in  New  York, 
where  Tories  constituted  half  the  population. 
There  was  a  body  of  militia  in  that  State  which 
at  one  time  numbered  5,855  men ;  and  in  the  coun 
try  at  large  there  were  at  least  50,000  of  them  in 
arms  during  the  war  at  one  time  and  another. 
They  enlisted  freely  in  the  British  army  and  navy, 
and  furnished  supplies  to  the  enemy  when  Ameri 
can  troops  found  it  difficult  to  obtain  them.  Con 
temptible  acts  of  partisan  warfare  may  be  passed 
over,  since  their  Patriot  foes  repaid  them  in  their 
own  coin.  Their  hostility  was  even  more  fratri 
cidal  than  that  of  the  British  against  men  of  their 
own  race,  because  they  were  fighting  against  their 
own  countrymen,  often  neighbors  and  relatives, 
and  protracting  a  war  which  would  have  been 
ended  sooner  if  they  had  not  held  out  encourage 
ment  to  the  crown  and  Parliament  by  constant 


President  of  Congress  245 

misrepresentation  from  the  beginning  to  the  end 
of  the  strife.  Franklin  considered  them  as  the 
main  cause  of  its  continuance  by  making  the  min 
istry  believe  that  the  rebellion  was  by  a  few  men 
of  no  account,  and  that  the  majority  were  ready 
to  submit,  they  themselves  being  as  they  said 
four-fifths  of  the  entire  population.1 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  the  war  and  with  such 
facts  before  them  that  Hancock  and  his  friends 
considered  the  exiles'  requests  to  return.2  If  the 
contest  had  been  finished,  with  the  result  that  fol 
lowed  five  years  later,  this  committee  might  have 
been  asked  which  of  the  two  general  methods  of 
victors  toward  the  vanquished  they  were  going  to 
put  themselves  on  record  as  pursuing,  the  generous 
or  its  opposite.  Not  much  mercy  has  ever  been 
expected  from  savage  tribes  in  their  brutish  war 
fare,  and  no  great  favor  between  different  races 
in  ancient  times,  especially  toward  rebellious 
provinces.  But  between  factions  of  the  same  race, 
citizens  of  the  same  country,  neighbors  in  the  same 
town,  and  members  of  the  same  families  it  is 

1  For  further  particulars  respecting  this  important  factor  in  the 
war  for  independence  see  the  exhaustive  work  of  Sabine  on  the 
"Loyalists  of  the  American  Revolution  "  ;  Van  Tyne's  "Loyalists 
in  the  American  Revolution,"  and  mention  in  his  "American  Rev 
olution,"  with  a  bibliography  of  the  subject  on  p.  338,  in  which 
James  Murray's  "Letters"  are  of  peculiar  interest.     Also  James 
H.  Stark's  "Loyalists  of  Massachusetts  and  the  Other  Side  of  the 
Revolution,"  —  the  Tory  side. 

2  Concerning  Refugees'  claims  see  "American  Archives,"  IV 
Series,  1232,  1344,  1377, 1381. 


246  John   Hancock 

reasonable  to  look  for  lenity  from  the  party  which 
has  the  consolations  of  victory,  and  whose  overlook 
ing  of  mistaken  views  and  misplaced  hopes  could 
not  affect  the  outcome  of  the  strife.  Since  this 
was  not  over,  and  thousands  of  Tories  were  in 
arms,  hoping  for  the  downfall  of  the  Patriot  cause, 
exiled  bands  or  individuals  could  not  be  permitted 
to  return  with  safety  to  the  general  welfare,  how 
ever  they  might  behave  in  a  single  State.  Other 
States  where  they  were  making  more  trouble,  as 
in  the  South,  would  not  thank  Massachusetts  for 
what  might  be  called  giving  aid  and  comfort  to  the 
enemy.  The  disturbing  faction  was  less  danger 
ous  where  it  had  betaken  itself,  although  less  com 
fortable.  If  they  had  been  allowed  to  return  they 
would  have  found  Boston  what  they  feared  it 
would  be  for  them  without  the  presence  of  the 
British  forces,  "  worse  than  Halifax  "  and  the  two 
other  places  in  the  triple  alliteration  above  men 
tioned.  Reproach  and  scorn  would  have  been  the 
least  of  their  sufferings.  There  are  sons  and  daugh 
ters  associations  of  this  and  that  colonial  order,  in  the 
commendable  desire  to  commemorate  noble  service 
in  war  and  peace,  but  the  great  multitude  of  Loyal 
ists,  of  whom  Washington  said  that  they  had  a  right 
to  choose  their  side ;  who  at  first  were  guilty  of 
nothing  more  than  of  fidelity  to  the  home  govern 
ment  and  the  empire  of  which  they  were  citizens, 
and  later  of  living  or  dying  for  it,  —  of  this  large 
body  and  respectable  in  British  eyes  there  is  no 


President  of  Congress  247 

disposition  to  perpetuate  the  name  and  memory, 
unless  in  Canada.  It  stood  for  what  was  to  pass 
away  here ;  it  resisted  the  coming  of  a  better  king 
dom;  it  fell  with  the  old  domination  and  oppres 
sion;  and  the  new  order  could  not  forget  or  for 
give  its  hostility  to  republican  principles  and  a 
democratic  state. 

Considering  these  and  other  aspects  of  one  of  the 
most  vexatious  problems  that  confronted  the  fathers, 
Hancock  and  his  compatriots  cannot  be  blamed  for 
a  seeming  hardheartedness  in  turning  a  deaf  ear  to 
the  entreaties  of  their  former  neighbors  and  friends 
to  be  allowed  to  return  to  their  homes  in  the  midst 
of  hostilities.  When  these  ceased,  conditions  were 
changed  and  generosity  could  prevail  with  greater 
safety;  although  it  can  be  said:  with  less  profit 
to  holders  of  confiscated  estates  bought  low.1 
Yet  the  best  terms  that  Great  Britain  could  secure 
for  its  loyal  colonists  when  terms  of  peace  were 
agreed  upon  were,  that  Congress  should  "recom 
mend  leniency  to  the  several  States  "  in  their  treat 
ment  of  Tories.2  For  its  own  part  the  home  govern 
ment  employed  as  many  as  it  could,  and  for  the 
temporary  support  of  the  unemployed  it  expended 

1  On    Loyalist    property    the  Patriot    had    a  covetous  eye. 
"  $36,000,000  worth  was  confiscated  by  the  State  of  New  York 
alone." — Van  Tyne,  "American  Revolution,"  p.  267. 

2  The  first  article  of  the  treaty  with  Great  Britain  was  to  secure 
fishing   rights :    the  second   was   a  counter  recommendation   to 
Americans  of  consideration  for  Loyalists.     The  text  of  the  treaty 
is  in  "National  Documents,"  N.  Y.,  1908,  p.  77. 


248  J°hn  Hancock 

over  40,000  pounds  sterling  annually  before  the  end 
of  the  war.  Afterward  additional  burdens  were 
ungrudgingly  assumed  for  the  expatriated;  five 
hundred  acres  of  land  to  each  family,  building 
materials,  tools,  and  even  food.  In  this  way  nearly 
$9,000,000  were  spent  in  Canada  before  1787.  In 
addition,  some  $19,000,000  were  paid  for  losses  of 
property  by  the  well-to-do  on  their  claims  for  forty 
millions.  Among  these  were  governors,  judges, 
councillors,  commissioners,  college  presidents,  and 
clergymen.  After  all  that  was  done  for  them  they 
were  dissatisfied  and  unhappy.  In  Canada  they 
were  wretched ;  in  England  they  were  disregarded 
and  thrown  back  upon  the  companionship  of  the 
lower  classes.  There  was  little  left  for  them  but 
to  drag  out  a  lonely  existence  to  the  end  of  their 
days.1 

1  An  instructive  account  of  Loyalist  life  in  England  after  the 
war  is  given  by  Trevelyan  in  his  "American  Revolution,"  in,  231. 
Also  a  personal  account  in  Samuel  Curwen's  "Journal." 


CHAPTER  XVI 

EXPEDITION   TO  RHODE   ISLAND 

WHEN  Hancock's  commission  as  Colonel  of  the 
Cadets  was  revoked  by  General  Gage  soon  after 
his  arrival  in  Boston  he  said :  "I  shall  always  pre 
fer  retirement  in  a  private  station  to  being  a  tool 
in  the  hand  of  power  to  impress  my  countrymen." 
He  also  declined  to  serve  as  a  governor's  coun 
cillor  and  remained  in  the  House  of  Representatives. 
But  an  appreciative  commonwealth,  by  way  of 
compensation,  on  February  8,  1776,  "made  choice 
by  ballot  in  the  House  of  the  Honorable  John  Han 
cock,  Esq.  to  be  First  Major-General  of  the  Militia 
in  this  Colony."  So  far  as  authority  and  official 
station  go  he  was  now  abundantly  equipped  for 
distinguished  achievement  in  the  country's  service. 
All  that  was  lacking  to-  test  his  ability  was  a  fa 
vorable  opportunity.  Soon  this  also  was  furnished. 

The  only  places  of  any  importance  held  by  the 
enemy  at  that  time  were  New  York,  and  Newport, 
Rhode  Island.  In  December,  1776,  the  island  had 
been  seized  by  Lord  Percy,  who  left  it  to  General 
Richard  Prescott  when  he  went  home  the  following 
spring.  This  blustering  hero  ruled  the  town  with 
a  "big  gnarled  stick,"1  his  constant  companion, 
1  John  Fiske, 


250  John  Hancock 

until  that  night  when  a  party  of  Yankee  soldiers 
caught  him  at  a  house  five  miles  out  of  town,  and 
taking  him  out  of  bed  carried  him  off  in  his  night 
gown  and  sent  him  to  General  Washington  on  the 
Hudson,  by  whom  he  was  afterward  exchanged 
for  General  Lee  —  a  poor  bargain.  In  the  summer 
of  1778  Sir  Robert  Pigott  was  in  command  of  the 
troops  on  the  island,  numbering  6,000  men,  in 
cluding  a  strong  detachment  from  the  garrison  in 
town  which  had  been  stationed  at  the  northern  end 
of  the  island.  The  capture  of  this  force  had  for 
a  year  and  a  half  seemed  like  the  prospect  of  bag 
ging  half  the  British  invaders,  for  which  enter 
prise  New  England  yeomen  began  to  muster  when 
the  word  was  given.  Nine  thousand  of  them  as 
sembled,  including  fifteen  hundred  picked  troops 
which  Washington  sent  under  Greene,  who  was  at 
home  in  Rhode  Island.  Thither  came  also  the 
aquatic  Glover  of  Marblehead,  invaluable  where 
ferrying  was  to  be  done,  and  Lafayette  where 
French  was  to  be  interpreted  and  spoken,  as  a 
good  deal  of  it  was  to  be  before  this  expedition 
should  end;  for  Count  d'Estaing,  his  kinsman,  was 
on  the  way  with  a  fleet  and  four  thousand  French 
regulars.  General  John  Hancock  was  also  coming 
with  about  five  thousand  militia-men  from  Massa 
chusetts.1  Hopes  were  high  that  Pigott  and  his 
six  thousand  would  be  entrapped,  and  in  this  way: 

1  He  commanded  the  right  of  the  second  line  between  the  first 
and  the  reserve.     7  "Mass,  Hist.  Soc.  Coll."  iv,  246. 


Expedition  to  Rhode  Island      251 

the  French  were  to  cross  over  from  Conanicut 
island  on  the  west  to  meet  the  Americans  coming 
from  the  mainland  on  the  east.  Together  they 
would  get  between  the  two  British  divisions  and 
easily  capture  both. 

Three  things  happened  to  upset  this  admirable 
arrangement.  First,  Pigott  called  in  the  northern 
division  to  the  main  garrison  at  Newport.  Then 
Sullivan,  who  had  kept  the  French  fleet  in  the  offing 
for  ten  days  while  waiting  for  troops  to  arrive, 
through  some  whim  of  his  own  suddenly  and  with 
out  notice  to  d'Estaing  crossed  over  from  Tiverton, 
the  French  troops  being  now  on  Conanicut.1  At 
this  moment  Lord  Howe  appeared  off  point  Judith 
with  thirteen  ships  of  the  line,  seven  frigates,  and 
several  small  vessels.  Instead  of  leaving  his  land 
force  to  assist  the  American  army  d'Estaing  took 
it  aboard  and  sailed  out  to  engage  Howe.  For 
two  days  the  fleets  circled  around  each  other  to 
get  the  weather-gage.  On  the  third  a  tempest 
set  in  which  was  remembered  for  fifty  years  as  the 
Great  Storm.2  Both  squadrons  were  driven  out 
to  sea,  and  although  a  few  straggling  ships  ex- 

1  For  Sullivan's  acount  of  his  own  precipitancy  see  7  "  Mass.  Hist. 
Soc.  Coll."  iv,  247. 

2  For  a  description  of  one  day  in  camp  in  the  midst  of  this 
storm  see  the  letter  of  the  artist  Trumbull  on  the  i3th  August, 
1778,  in  6  "Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll."  iv,  126. 

Major  Lyman,  Hancock's  aide-de-camp,  wrote  Gen.  Heath, — 
"Major  General  Hancock  is  in  fine  spirits,  and  sends  compliments. 
We  wait  for  nothing  but  fine  weather  to  advance."  —  Ib.,  p.  150. 


252  John  Hancock 

changed  shots  the  British  were  glad  to  steer  for 
New  York  and  the  French  for  Boston  to  make 
repairs.  It  was  three  weeks  before  d'Estaing  col 
lected  his  dispersed  and  damaged  fleet.1  Over 
ruled  by  his  subordinate  officers,  he  did  not 
leave  his  troops  to  co-operate  with  the  American 
army  at  Newport 2  and  in  consequence  great  dis 
appointment  and  wrath  followed,  with  insubor 
dination  and  desertion.  Then  Clinton  landed  four 
thousand  British  troops,  and  the  expedition  which 
had  promised  so  much  ended  by  withdrawal  of 
the  American  forces  from  the  island.3  The  ten 

1  On  the  1 2th  Hancock  wrote  Washington :  — 

"RHODE  ISLAND,  August  12,  1778. 
"DEAR  SIR, 

"Nothing  material  has  turned  up  since  my  Letter  of  yester 
day.  There  are  flying  Reports  that  Count  DeEstaing  has  taken 
some  and  sunk  other  of  the  British  Fleet  but  they  are  so  vague  and 
uncertain  that  nothing  to  be  depended  on  can  be  collected.  To 
my  mortification  I  find  that  a  large  number  of  our  Troops  are 
without  Tents  or  Covering  and  suffer  very  greatly  in  the  present 
Storm.  About  300  of  our  men  who  were  enlisted  for  15  days  and 
whose  time  was  out  on  yesterday,  left  the  Army  notwithstanding 
all  my  Desires  and  Entreaties  with  them  to  tarry  but  one  Week 
longer.  As  soon  as  the  Weather  clears  up  I  hope  to  have  account 
of  the  French  Fleet,  Nothing  material  will  be  attempted  but 
in  conjunction  with  Count  De  Estaing."  —  "Mass.  Archives," 
Ms.  vol.  199,  p.  413. 

2  Count  d'Estaing's  explanation  of  his  action  in  this  affair 
may  be  found  in  a  letter  to  the  Commander-in-Chief,  in  which  he 
gave  his  approval  of  Sullivan's  course.    The  latter  was  not  so 
courteous.     Sparks'  "Writings  of  Washington,"  vi,  30. 

3  "Admiral  Rodney  tried  to  get  Clinton  to  besiege  Rhode  Island 
(Newport)  and  recover  the  noblest  harbor  in  America,  but  Clinton 


Expedition  to  Rhode  Island      253 

days  of  delay  in  getting  the  militia  together  before 
British  reinforcements  arrived  upset  the  whole 
enterprise.  It  also  came  near  alienating  the 
French  allies  through  hasty  words  spoken  and 
written  by  American  officers  and  the  general  out 
cry  of  soldiers  against  the  "false  and  fickle  French." 1 
Four  gentlemen  prevented  a  serious  disruption: 
Washington  and  d'Estaing  by  their  polite  and 
reassuring  letters  to  each  other,  and  Lafayette 
by  his  seven  hours'  ride  to  Boston  and  conference 
with  d'Estaing  and  the  General  Court  about  the 
Count's  leading  his  regiments  back  to  Newport. 

John  Hancock,  however,  was  the  man  who  stood 
between  an  angry  populace  and  several  ship-loads 
of  foreign  soldiers,  sailors,  and  subordinate  officers 
with  leave  to  go  ashore.  A  riot  occurred  between 
them  and  American  sailors  the  hour  they  stepped 
on  the  wharves.  The  valuable  French  alliance 
was  in  danger  of  a  chill.  It  was  then  that  Hancock 
showed  himself  a  greater  diplomat  than  soldier. 
According  to  some  of  his  contemporaries  he  did 
not  distinguish  himself  in  the  Newport  campaign : 
for  that  matter  no  one  achieved  greater  glory 
than  a  successful  retreat  bestows;  special  men 
tion  being  made  by  Congress  of  Lafayette's  gal- 
said  it  was  too  late."  —  Mark's  "England  and  America,"  n,  491, 
1067. 

1  The  American  sense  of  the  French  withdrawal  to  Boston  is 
seen  in  a  letter  of  Judge  Barrett's  to  Gen.  Heath,  in  which  he 
speaks  of  the  allies  as  "Heroes  of  Flight."  —  7  "Mass.  Hist.  Soc. 
Coll."  iv,  260. 


254  J°hn  Hancock 

lantry  in  bringing  off  sentries  and  pickets.  But 
Hancock  left  the  field  before  the  encounter  which 
hastened  the  retreat,  pretending,  his  maligners 
said,  to  be  anxious  about  the  French  fleet  on  its 
way  to  Boston.  He  knew  the  town  well  enough 
to  have  reasonable  apprehensions  about  the  re 
ception  it  might  meet,  which  were  justified  by  the 
event.  Eleven  years  afterward  a  political  oppo 
nent  in  the  campaign  of  1789  illustrated  the  truism 
that  any  failings  of  a  candidate  in  any  age  are 
capital  for  the  opposition.  He  also  threw  a  side 
light  on  the  expedition,  and  incidentally  exhibited 
a  personal  prejudice  whose  strength  is  its  own 
antidote.  But  he  cannot  be  passed  by. 

"Mr.  H.  was  Major  General  of  the  Militia,  at  the  time 
that  memorable  expedition  was  set  on  foot.  He  ever  had 
a  great  fondness  for  parade  of  every  kind.  Having  heard 
much  of  the  pleasures  of  the  camp,  and  conceiving  this  a 
fine  opportunity  to  pluck  a  military  laurel  without  any 
danger  to  his  person,  he  sought,  and  obtained  the  command 
of  our  militia.  —  He  appointed  his  aids  —  he  prepared  his 
accoutrements  —  and  with  all  the  parade  of  a  veteran  con- 
querer,  he  issued  his  orders,  and  made  the  necessary  arrange 
ments  to  march  to  the  field.  When  he  got  to  Rhode  Island 
he  took  an  eligible  situation  for  his  quarters  —  he  appeared 
on  the  parade  en  militaire  —  he  sallied  out  often  for  air  and 
exercise,  and  he  sometimes  approached  so  near  to  the  enemy, 
under  the  idea  of  reconnoitering,  as  to  distinguish,  by  the 
aid  of  a  good  perspective,  that  the  British  flag  was  still  fly 
ing  at  some  miles'  distance.  Martial  musick  and  military 
movements  alone  delighted;  and  never  was  the  fire  of  military 
ambition  so  conspicuous  in  any  man's  countenance  and  con- 


Expedition  to  Rhode  Island      255 

duct.  .  .  .  But  this  flame  was  of  short  duration.  The 
severe  cannonade  at  the  arrival  of  the  French  fleet,  though 
at  several  miles'  distance,  disordered  his  nerves;  the  sound 
of  the  drum  disturbed  his  muscles,  by  alarming  his  fears; 
and  his  nightly  slumbers  were  short  and  uncertain,  from 
lively  scenes  of  blood  and  carnage,  which  a  heated  imagina 
tion  was  continually  presenting  to  his  view. 

"This  situation  was  too  painful  and  humiliating  for  the 
Man  of  the  People  long  to  endure.  He  grew  peevish  and 
uneasy  —  he  complained  of  the  length  of  the  campaign  — 
and  he  talked  frequently  of  quitting  the  field.  This,  his 
aids,  who  were  men  of  spirit,  were  fearful  would  soon  happen. 
They  felt  for  his  and  their  own  honour;  they  used  every  argu 
ment  to  allay  his  fears  —  to  compose  his  nerves,  and  to 
awake  his  ambition,  and  were  in  hopes  to  succeed.  But 
the  departure  of  the  fleet,  the  roar  of  the  cannon,  and  the 
smell  of  powder  was  too  much  for  our  hero  to  support.  He 
resolved  to  return  home  —  he  dreamed  that  his  child  was 
sick  and  dying  —  he  fancied  that  the  fleet  had  gone  to  Boston, 
and  could  not  refit  in  his  absence;  but  more  than  this,  he 
imagined  that  the  British  were  roused,  and  he  could  not 
believe  it  safe  or  prudent  for  the  man  of  the  people  to  remain 
any  longer  on  the  Island.  His  fears  were  more  powerful 
than  all  other  passions  together;  and  he  flattered  himself, 
that  by  urging  his  great  anxiety  for  the  safety  of  the  fleet 
as  the  cause  of  his  flight  he  might  save  his  reputation.  .  .  . 
Having  good  cattle  he  reached  home  in  a  few  hours,  and  the 
first  question  upon  entering  the  town  was,  as  to  the  safety 
of  the  fleet;  but  after  being  at  rest  a  little  time,  and  finding 
himself  safe  in  his  own  house,  his  fears  subsided  —  his 
solicitude  for  the  fleet  abated  —  and  he  enjoyed  his  pleasures 
as  well  as  ever  —  he  recounted  his  exploits  in  the  field,  and 
gave  a  lively  description  of  the  enemy's  alarm  when  he 
reconnoitered  their  posts. 

"Thus  ended  Mr.  H.'s  memorable  campaign  in  Rhode 


256  John  Hancock 

Island;  and  these  were  the  laurels  gathered  in  that  famous 
expedition.  If  it  be  thought  that  they  are  not  of  the  best 
tint  possible,  it  should  be  remembered  that  he  cropt  them 
flying,  and  had  not  time  to  select  the  best  plants. 

"But  to  treat  this  important  subject  with  more  serious 
ness,  I  would  ask,  who  that  had  the  feelings  of  a  man,  or 
more  than  that,  the  feelings  of  a  patriot,  which  he  pretended 
to  have,  would  have  left  the  camp  at  so  critical  a  moment; 
when  the  British  were  expected  to  attack  the  American  army, 
and  every  one  was  anxious  for  the  safety  of  our  country  and 
its  cause.  ...  A  regard  to  his  own  honour,  and  the  safety 
of  his  country,  should  have  raised  him  above  all  concern 
for  his  personal  safety,  or  the  enjoyment  of  his  friends  and 
family  at  home.  .  .  .  But  instead  of  this,  the  General  was 
amongst  the  first,  if  not  the  very  first,  to  leave  the  Island*, 
in  a  time  of  danger;  he  deserted  the  post  he  sought  after, 
and  most  unworthily  filled;  and  he  left  the  gentlemen  who 
accompanied  him,  and  the  troops  he  commanded  to  shift 
for  themselves,  or  fall  a  prey  to  the  British.  Instead  of  per 
suading  his  officers  and  men,  by  his  own  example,  willingly 
to  submit  to  soldiers '  fare,  and  to  keep  those  quiet  under  the 
hardships  of  their  station  who  had  before  been  accustomed 
to  elegance  and  luxury;  he  was  always  studying  new  means 
of  dissipation,  and  kept  carriages  constantly  passing  to 
supply  him  with  luxuries  from  hence.  .  .  . 

"I  would  now  ask,  where  was  the  merit  of  this  unsoldier- 
like  conduct  ?  How  or  at  what  time  did  he  serve  the  publick 
by  this  expedition,  or  do  honour  to  himself?  Did  he  not 
on  the  contrary  do  as  much  injury  to  the  country,  and  dis 
honour  to  himself  as  he  could  do  by  an  evil  example? 
Was  there  anything  in  his  conduct  upon  this  occasion,  that 
was  not  opposite  to  that  of  a  Hero,  or  the  '  Saviour  of  his 
Country  ?'  Did  he  not  leave  those,  who  followed  him  from 
personal  attachment  to  the  field,  in  a  very  dangerous  situa 
tion,  and  in  a  most  disgraceful  manner;  and  was  the  eventual 


Expedition  to  Rhode  Island      257 

escape  of  the  troops,  which  he  led,  from  the  hands  of  the 
British,  in  any  degree  owing  to  his  attention,  firmness  or 
prudence?"  1 

There  is  no  possibility  of  misunderstanding  the 
spirit  which  inspired  these  sentences  taken  from 
one  of  ten  partisan  articles  in  a  Boston  newspaper 
before  the  election  of  a  governor  in  1789.  They 
are  in  the  style  of  Junius,  so  far  as  their  acrimony 
and  acerbity  can  make  them,  but  there  the  like 
ness  ends.  However,  present  concern  is  not  so 
much  about  the  manner  and  method  of  a  personal 
attack  upon  Governor  Hancock  as  to  inquire 
what  other  explanation  there  may  be  for  what 
must  be  accepted  as  facts,  since  the  bluntness  of 
their  statement  is  in  itself  a  challenge  to  their 
denial,  if  it  could  have  been  made. 

Let  it  be  admitted  that  Hancock  was  not  a 
military  genius.  That  he  ever  aspired  to  anything 
beyond  the  captaincy  of  his  Cadet  Company 
must  be  taken  as  one  of  the  instances  of  mistaking 
one's  calling,  and  of  the  love  of  the  pomp  and 
circumstance  of  war  apart  from  its  inconveniences 
and  hardships,  suffering,  and  peril.  On  this 
particular  campaign  of  delays  and  catastrophe 
there  seems  to  have  been  the  chance  for  but  one 
man  to  achieve  success,  namely,  the  British  com 
mander,  who  missed  his  opportunity,  when  after 
the  storm  he  might  have  swept  his  enemies  from 

*"  Writings  of  Laco"  (Stephen  Higginson),  in  "Boston  Cen- 
tinel,"  1789. 


258  John  Hancock 

the  Island,  instead  of  leaving  them  to  retreat. 
Hancock  could  not  be  expected  to  outshine  Sullivan 
and  Greene:  the  retreat  was  determined  upon, 
and  it  was  only  a  question  as  to  whether  he  could 
be  of  more  service  in  the  field  or  in  Boston.  It 
may  be  conceded  that  he  was  of  no  great  use  in 
helping  to  break  camp  and  get  the  army  off  the 
Island.  He  had  not  had  an  opportunity  to  show 
of  what  value  he  would  have  been  in  an  attack. 
There  was  something,  however,  that  he  could 
accomplish  for  the  cause  in  his  native  town  that 
would  reach  far  beyond  its  limits. 

As  has  been  noted,  there  was  imminent  danger 
of  alienating  the  French  allies  through  words  and 
treatment  they  had  not  merited,  since  American 
delays,  and  precipitate  action  at  last,  together 
with  a  tempest,  had  brought  about  the  disaster 
for  which  blame  must  be  thrown  upon  somebody. 
It  fell  upon  the  allies,  and  they  resented  it. 
Hancock  saw,  as  Washington  saw,  that  something 
must  be  done  to  counteract  the  animosity  that 
was  springing  up  on  account  of  unwise  words  that 
some  of  the  American  officers  had  spoken  and 
written,  to  be  repeated  by  soldiers  and  civilians, 
ending  with  a  scrimmage  on  the  docks.  It  was  not 
a  reception  to  soothe  the  irritation  of  the  French. 
Hancock,  who  had  reason  to  foresee  trouble, 
hastened  home  to  do  what  he  might  to  mend 
matters.  Now  he  was  in  his  own  sphere  and  un 
surpassed  in  it.  A  cordial  and  hospitable  wel- 


Expedition  to  Rhode  Island      259 

come  to  the  allies  might  be  of  as  much  value  as 
a  royal  order  to  continue  to  co-operate  with  the 
Americans.  The  town  itself  in  a  time  of  scarcity 
and  general  poverty  could  not  do  much  toward 
entertaining,  even  if  it  had  the  disposition; 
but  Hancock's  fortune  was  not  wholly  gone,  and 
therefore  he  undertook  to  represent  the  community 
in  hospitable  ways  which  were  worth  more  just 
then  than  diplomacy  or  arms.  Accordingly,  in 
vitations  general  and  particular  were  sent  to  the 
French  officers,  which  brought  some  forty  of  them 
to  his  house  and  table  each  day.  Once  they  came 
uninvited  to  breakfast,  driving  cooks  to  despair, 
and  compelling  Mrs.  Hancock  to  send  servants 
out  to  milk  all  the  cows  on  the  Common  without 
looking  up  their  owners.  This  raid  of  the  lace- 
bedizened  appears  to  have  been  a  Gallic  pleasantry, 
paralleled  by  another  which  was  inflicted  on  Bos- 
tonians  when  they  accepted  a  return  of  hospitalities 
by  the  fleet,  which  Madam  Hancock  used  to 
describe  with  graphic  force  in  her  old  age.  Deli 
cacy  was  not  a  drug  in  society  at  that  time.  The 
straits  to  which  the  bounteous  and  patriotic  host 
was  sometimes  reduced,  the  following  letter  will 
show.  It  was  written  to  Henry  Quincy,  at  that 
time  in  Providence. 

"  Monday  Noon,  30  Augst. 

"DEAR  SIR:  The  Philistines  are  coming  upon  me  on 
Wednesday  next  at  Dinner.  To  be  Serious,  the  Ambassa 
dor  &c.,  &c.,  &c.,  are  to  dine  with  me  on  Wednesday,  and 


260  John  Hancock 

I  have  nothing  to  give  them,  nor  from  the  present  prospect 
of  our  Market  do  I  see  that  I  shall  be  able  to  get  anything 
in  Town;  I  must  beg  the  fav'r  of  you  to  Recommend  to 
my  Man  Harry  where  he  can  get  some  Chickens,  Ducks, 
Geese,  Hams,  Partridges,  Mutton,  or  any  thing  that  will  save 
my  Reputation  in  a  Dinner,  and  by  all  means  some  Butter; 
Be  so  good  as  to  help  me,  and  you  will  much  oblige  me;  is 
there  any  good  mellons  or  Peaches,  or  any  good  fruit, 
near  you?  Your  advice  to  Harry  will  much  oblige  me; 
Excuse  me,  I  am  very  troublesome;  Can  I  get  a  good 
Turkey;  I  walk'd  in  Town  to-day;  I  dine  on  board  the 
French  Frigate  to-morrow;  so  you  see  how  I  have  Re 
covered. 

"God  bless  you;  if  you  see  any  thing  good  at  Provi 
dence,  do  Buy  it  for  me.  I  am  Your  Real  friend  JOHN 
HANCOCK."  l 

To  crown  all,  Hancock  in  the  name  and  to  the 
credit  of  Boston,  gave  a  banquet  and  ball  to  about 

1From  Salisbury's  "Family  Memorials"  in  Brown's  "His 
Book,"  p.  228.  "A  large  company  of  gentlemen  and  ladies  dined 
on  board  the  'Languedoc'  at  the  invitation  of  Count  d'Estaing. 
A  picture  of  General  Washington  at  full  length,  lately  presented 
to  the  Count  by  General  Hancock,  was  placed  at  the  centre  of  the 
upper  side  of  the  room,  the  frame  of  which  was  covered  with 
laurels."  —  Ford's  "Writings  of  Washington,"  vn,  200.  " It  has 
been  said  that  Mrs.  Hancock  invited  two  hundred  Boston  women 
to  accompany  her  to  this  dinner  —  possibly  to  return  the  French 
invasion  of  her  own  dining  room.  She  used  to  say  that  at  this 
time  her  husband  'kept  150  turkeys  in  the  coach  house,  turning 
them  out  on  Beacon  Hill  pasture  in  the  daytime  and  diminish 
ing  their  number  by  half  each  evening.'  Levies  for  cake  some 
times  made  upon  neighbors  were  devoured  by  hungry  midship 
men  in  the  hall  before  it  could  reach  the  dining  room,  and  had  to 
be  smuggled  in  under  cover.  Seventeen  cups  of  tea  were  swal 
lowed  by  one  thirsty  Frenchman."  —  Diary  of  Gen.  William  H. 
Sumner,  in  "Mag.  Am.  History,"  xix,  504. 


Expedition  to  Rhode  Island      261 

five  hundred  of  the  French  allies.  It  is  reported 
that  by  reason  of  the  troublesome  gout  he  was 
not  able  to  be  present  at  the  town-meeting  held 
next  day.  He  recovered  sufficiently  to  be  busy 
in  the  General  Court  soon  after  and  to  preside  in 
frequent  town-meetings.  His  diplomatic  hospi 
tality  had  served  its  purpose  in  helping  to  restore 
good  feeling  between  French  and  American  leaders, 
ensuring  a  continuance  of  aid  fron  Louis  XVI. 
So  far  this  co-operation  had  not  appeared  to  ren 
der  much  assistance  in  the  field;  but  it  had  diverted 
and  crippled  forces  of  England  which  would  have 
been  turned  against  America.  What  Washington 
most  desired  was  a  detachment  from  the  French 
army  to  co-operate  with  his  own  raw  levies.  This, 
Lafayette,  seconded  by  d'Estaing,  urged  upon  the 
king  and  Vergennes,  and  he  was  authorized  to 
take  the  promise  of  a  reinforcement  to  Washing 
ton  on  his  return  to  America.  Two  months  after 
his  arrival  seven  ships  of  the  line  and  three  frigates 
brought  six  thousand  troops  to  Newport  under 
Count  Rochambeau,  that  were  to  be  followed  by 
a  second  installment,  which  unfortunately  never 
came,  being  blockaded  at  Brest  by  a  British  fleet. 
Meantime  a  squadron  from  New  York  kept  the 
allies'  fleet  and  army  idle  for  a  year  at  Newport, 
unable  to  do  anything  for  Washington.  How 
ever,  the  French  government  had  not  been  idle; 
and  in  the  spring  of  1781  it  sent  twenty-eight 
ships-of-the-line  and  six  frigates  carrying  20,000 


262  John   Hancock 

men  under  Count  de  Grasse  to  act  in  concert  with 
Washington  and  Rochambeau.  The  storm  of 
war  had  been  moving  up  from  the  South,  and 
Cornwallis  had  encamped  on  Yorktown  peninsula 
where  he  could  be  backed  by  a  naval  force  that  had 
thus  far  given  the  English  their  supremacy.  In 
stead,  it  was  a  French  fleet  that  drew  up  behind 
him,  and  kept  the  British  ships  at  bay,  while 
Washington  hastened  to  the  front  to  keep  him 
in  the  pocket.  The  French  troops  and  American 
together  stormed  British  redoubts,  and  on  the 
third  day  Cornwallis  surrendered.  The  contest 
for  liberty  was  practically  over,  and  even  the 
stubborn  king  was  obliged  to  agree  with  his 
ministry  that  he  was  beaten. 

So  far  as  the  final  result  was  concerned  no  one 
at  the  time  would  have  thought  of  giving  John 
Hancock  any  credit  for  a  hand  in  it.  The  French, 
however,  were  not  insensible  to  the  assistance 
which  they  gave  in  the  crucial  battle  which  put 
an  end  to  British  successes.  Had  it  not  been 
for  Hancock's  hospitable  diplomacy  even  Lafayette 
might  have  found  it  impossible  to  restore  a  cordial 
understanding  between  the  two  countries.  If 
it  had  been  broken  off,  the  war  might  have  been 
prolonged  so  long  as  British  ships  could  bring 
troops  to  a  country  that  had  no  navy  to  protect 
its  coasts  and  to  supplement  its  army.  The 
French  have  always,  and  with  reason,  claimed 
a  large  share  of  credit  for  the  Yorktown  surrender. 


Expedition  to  Rhode   Island      263 

Hancock  would  not  have  distinguished  himself 
there;  but  he  deserves  some  recognition  if  he 
helped  to  preserve  an  alliance  which  secured  that 
victory. 

The  whole  matter  of  the  important  part  which 
France  bore  in  the  war  for  independence  is  apt 
to  be  overlooked  after  a  century  and  a  third.  It 
is  not  necessary  here  to  inquire  into  the  motives 
of  those  in  high  places,  —  as  their  hopes  of  trade 
and  their  hatred  of  England.  The  generous  policy 
of  Vergennes,  the  sacrifices  of  Beaumarchais,  and 
the  devotion  of  Lafayette  may.  stand  for  the  sen 
timents  of  the  nation  whose  practical  expression 
was  in  millions  of  treasure  and  supplies  and  thou 
sands  of  soldiers  when  the  American  cause  was, 
by  Washington's  own  admission,  on  the  brink 
of  ruin.  Eight  months  before  the  siege  of  York- 
town  he  said:  "If  the  French  do  not  come  to 
our  assistance  speedily  it  will  be  too  late,  for  we 
are  at  the  end  of  our  tether. "  They  came,  and 
by  reason  of  their  coming  the  surrender  at  York- 
town  turned  the  scale  in  our  favor,  when  without 
them  the  other  alternative  was  more  than  probable. 
They  might  not  have  come  if  John  Hancock  had 
not  made  reparation  for  the  rebuff  which  the  first 
expedition  received  from  his  fellow  citizens  of 
Boston.1 

There  were  other  and  less  conspicuous  services 

1 A  list  of  ships,  officers,  and  men  is  given  in  "  Les  Combat- 
tants  Fran^ais  de  la  Guerre  Americaine,"  Paris,  1902. 


264  John  Hancock 

which  Hancock  rendered  the  cause,  as  when  he 
sent  forward  to  General  Washington  that  most 
needed  and  efficient  disciplinarian,  Baron  Steuben, 
and  his  aides;  furnishing  them  not  only  with 
vehicles  from  Boston,  but  also  with  funds. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

FIRST  GOVERNOR  UNDER  THE   CONSTITUTION 

MASSACHUSETTS  in  common  with  some  other 
States  turned  to  the  framing  of  a  Constitution 
when  it  appeared  probable  that  the  statehood 
which  had  been  declared  would  become  permanent. 
It  has  already  been  observed  how  much  more 
important  in  its  own  opinion  were  the  affairs  of 
each  State  than  those  of  the  nebulous  Union. 
This  political  system  was  in  a  formative  stage, 
but  the  centripetal  forces  were  slow  in  overcoming 
the  centrifugal  and  in  bringing  repellent  bodies 
around  a  common  centre,  which  itself  was  vague 
and  unformed.  Hancock  might  have  brought 
the  federal  idea  into  Massachusetts  councils  from 
what  he  had  heard  of  it  in  Congress ;  but  it  is 
to  be  feared  that  he  had  heard  there  more  about 
States'  rights  and  their  retention  and  maintenance, 
if  he  did  not  personally  favor  them  to  the  preju 
dice  of  federation.  Eight  years  were  to  pass  be 
fore  all  the  colonies  should  cease  to  consider  them 
selves  distinct  republics ;  raising  troops,  making 
war  on  their  own  responsibility,  and  dealing  with 
one  another  merely  as  allies  in  a  common  cause, 
but  not  as  parts  of  an  integral  nation. 


266  J°hn  Hancock 

On  the  first  of  September,  1780,  three  hundred 
delegates  to  a  Constitutional  Convention  met  at 
Cambridge.  Hancock  was  among  the  number 
representing  Boston.  After  a  general  discussion 
of  a  Declaration  of  Rights  and  the  appointment 
of  a  committee  of  thirty  to  prepare  the  Declara 
tion  and  a  Constitution  of  Government,  and  a 
sub-committee  of  three  to  make  drafts  and  report, 
the  Convention  adjourned  for  six  weeks.  When 
it  met  again,  on  the  28th  of  October,  two  questions 
that  elicited  lively  discussion  indicate  that  the 
people  were  looking  both  backward  and  forward: 
first,  in  the  debate  about  the  support  of  ministers 
by  the  town,  according  to  the  old  Puritan  practice; 
and  second,  on  the  question  of  emancipating  slaves 
and  forbidding  slave  trade,  to  the  incidental 
damage  of  the  rum-distilling  industry.  Adjourn 
ing  often  for  lack  of  a  quorum,  and  reassembling 
from  time  to  time,  the  Convention  after  six  months 
evolved  a  Constitution,  to  be  laid  before  the 
people  of  the  State  for  a  two-thirds  vote  of  ap 
proval.  To  help  secure  this,  it  was  accompanied 
by  an  explanatory  address.  By  the  first  week 
in  June  it  had  been  accepted  by  the  towns,  and 
the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  was  more 
of  a  republic  than  ever,  with  the  experiment 
of  entire  and  unshared  self-government  before  it 
for  the  ensuing  eight  years. 

The  first  officer  to  be  chosen  was  a  governor.  To 
this  office  John  Hancock  was  elected  by  an  over- 


First  Constitutional  Governor    267 

whelming  majority,  —  of  11,000  out  of  12,281  votes 
cast  for  seventeen  candidates.  There  was  some 
surprise  that  Samuel  Adams  was  not  chosen,  in 
consideration  of  his  eminent  services  in  the  cause 
of  independence,  and  of  his  position  in  the  Con 
tinental  Congress,  where  he  was  still  occupied. 
It  would  be  charitable  to  think  that  his  con 
stituents  were  so  sensible  of  his  value  to  the  federal 
cause  that  they  would  not  tempt  him  to  absence 
by  calling  him  home  to  occupy  the  gubernatorial 
chair.  It  is  to  be  feared,  however,  that  less  worthy 
considerations  made  for  the  success  of  his  rival. 
Adams's  friendly  biographers  have  not  hesitated 
to  perpetuate  the  story  that  in  the  estrangement 
between  the  two  men  the  supporters  of  Hancock 
had  worked  against  Adams,  with  the  former's 
consent.  An  additional  explanation  can  be  found 
in  the  fact  that  there  was  a  reconstruction  party 
which  followed  that  of  demolition  to  which  Adams 
belonged,  if  he  was  not  its  creator,  less  radical 
and  more  conservative  and  constructive  than  his 
own.  Politics,  too,  were  succeeding  to  pure  pa 
triotism  in  the  new  order,  and  builders  followed 
the  wreckers.  To  his  sympathizing  wife  Adams 
wrote  a  dignified  letter  with  no  note  of  disap 
pointment  at  what  she  had  deemed  republican 
ingratitude.  A  few  sentences  will  reveal  the  tone 
of  it. 

"Many    circumstances    have    combined    to    make    this 
election  appear  to  be  politically  necessary.    If  the  people 


268  J°hn  Hancock 

will  watch  over  men  whom  they  exalt  to  places  of  power 
I  flatter  myself  that  this  will  prove  a  happy  choice.  I  wish 
that  he  may  have  the  most  faithful  counsellors  to  assist 
him  in  the  administration  of  affairs." 

What  Adams  lacked  in  resentment  has  been 
supplied  so  long  afterward  that  it  is  difficult  to 
ascertain  the  exact  grounds  for  charges  against 
Hancock.  Insinuations  and  general  remarks  about 
his  vanity,  caprice,  and  similar  failings,  with 
animosities  for  which  there  was  some  excuse, 
do  not  substantiate  accusations  of  malicious  dis 
paragement  of  Adams  through  the  agency  of 
friends.  If  true,  it  was  not  the  first  instance,  as 
it  was  not  the  last,  in  which  political  prejudices 
have  found  expression  in  terms  not  advantageous 
to  the  opposition;  but  the  proof  in  this  case  is 
a  matter  of  tradition  rather  than  history,  and 
much  more  vague  than  the  vilification  of  Hancock 
by  "Laco"  in  the  campaign  already  mentioned; 
in  which  more  definite  detraction  was  printed 
than  can  be  laid  to  the  charge  of  Hancock  or  his 
friends  with  respect  to  Samuel  Adams.1  Passing 
over  this  political  aspersion  as  incident  to  a  polit 
ical  campaign,  it  is  of  more  account  to  ask  how 
Hancock  entered  upon  the  duties  and  responsi 
bilities  of  the  first  governorship  of  the  Common- 

1  Stephen  Higginson  condescended  to  add  :  "I  might  collect 
many  handsome  things  to  be  said  in  his  favor ;  but  I  mean  not  to 
notice  either  his  failings  or  virtues  in  private  life."  —  "Writings 
of  Laco,"  p.  29. 


First  Constitutional  Governor     269 

wealth  of  Massachusetts  on  October  25,  1780. 
His  inaugural  address  should  be  taken  as  out 
lining  his  disposition  and  policy  in  a  new  and 
trying  condition  of  affairs.  Previous  to  taking 
the  oath  of  office  he  remarked  to  the  assembly 
of  both  houses  in  the  Council  Chamber :  — 

"Honorable  Gentlemen: 

"It  would  have  ill  become  me  at  so  early  a  moment  after 
being  notified  of  my  appointment  by  the  respectable  com 
mittee  of  this  honorable  assembly,  to  appear  here  to  comply 
with  the  qualifying  requisitions  of  the  Constitution,  had 
not  the  circumstances  of  the  returns  made  the  choice  a 
matter  of  public  notoriety  some  weeks  past,  and  receiving 
it  from  such  authority  as  confirmed  its  reality,  led  me  to 
contemplate  the  subject;  and,  although  fully  sensible  of 
my  inability  to  the  important  purposes  of  the  appointment, 
yet  having,  in  the  early  stage  of  this  contest,  determined 
to  devote  my  whole  time  and  services  to  be  employed  in  my 
country's  cause  to  the  utter  exclusion  of  all  private  business, 
even  to  the  end  of  the  war,  and  being  ever  ready  to  obey  the 
call  of  my  country,  I  venture  to  offer  myself;  ready  to 
comply  with  the  requisitions  of  the  Constitution,  and 
regularly  and  punctually  attend  to  the  duties  of  the  depart 
ment  in  which  my  country  has  been  pleased  to  place  me." 

The  oath  taken,  he  was  declared  Governor  from 
the  balcony  of  the  State  House.  His  first  in 
augural  address  then  followed.  A  part  of  it  is 
given  here. 

"Gentlemen  of  the  Senate,  and  Gentlemen  of  the  House  of 

Representatives,  — 

"With  a  sincere  and  warm  heart  I  congratulate  you  and 
my  country  on  the  singular  favor  of  heaven  in  the  peaceable 


270  J°hn  Hancock 

and  auspicious  settlement  of  our  government  upon  a  Con 
stitution  formed  by  the  wisdom  and  sanctified  by  the  solemn 
choice  of  the  people  who  are  to  live  under  it.  May  the 
Supreme  Ruler  of  the  world  be  pleased  to  establish  and  per 
petuate  these  new  foundations  of  liberty  and  glory. 

"Finding  myself  at  the  head  of  this  Commonwealth 
by  the  free  suffrages  of  its  citizens,  while  I  most  sensibly 
feel  the  distinction  they  have  conferred  upon  me  in  this 
election,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  express  sentiments  of  the  grati 
tude  with  which  it  has  impressed  me.  In  addition  to  my 
natural  affection  for  them,  and  the  obligations  they  have 
before  laid  upon  me,  I  have  now  a  new  and  irresistible  mo 
tive,  ever  to  consider  their  happiness  as  my  greatest  interest, 
and  their  freedom  my  highest  honor.  .  .  . 

"Of  all  the  weighty  business  that  lies  before  you,  a  point 
of  the  first  importance  and  most  pressing  necessity  is  the 
establishment  of  the  army  in  such  consistency  and  force, 
and  with  such  seasonable  and  competent  supplies,  as  may 
render  it,  in  conjunction  with  the  respectable  forces  sent 
to  our  assistance  by  our  powerful  and  generous  ally,  an 
effectual  defence  to  the  free  Constitutions  and  independence 
of  the  United  States. 

"You  cannot  give  too  early  or  too  serious  attention  to 
that  proportion  of  this  business  that  falls  to  the  share  of 
this  Commonwealth.  .  .  .  The  Commander-in-Chief,  in 
whose  abilities  and  integrity  we  justly  repose  the  highest 
confidence,  has  repeatedly  stated  to  us  the  necessity  of  an 
army  engaged  for  the  whole  war.  Nor  should  a  moment 
of  time  be  lost  in  establishing  an  object  so  essential  to  the 
preservation  of  our  liberties.  Care  at  the  same  time  ought 
to  be  taken  that  the  necessary  supplies  be  committed  to  men 
on  whose  principles  and  affection  to  our  great  cause,  as  well 
as  capacity  for  such  service,  we  may  safely  depend. 

"The  support  of  the  public  faith  stands  in  close  connec 
tion  with  this  measure  of  defence,  and,  indeed,  is  absolutely 


First  Constitutional  Governor      271 

necessary  to  it,  and  to  the  whole  interest  and  honor  of  the 
State.  No  expedient  should  be  unexplored  to  maintain 
our  credit  and  remove  all  just  ground  of  complaint  from  the 
army  that  protects  us,  or  from  those  who  have  relied  on 
public  engagements.  What  friend  to  his  country  would  not 
cheerfully  bear  his  proportion  of  the  expense  necessary  for 
this  purpose?" 

It  will  answer  the  present  purpose  to  outline 
the  substance  of  this  Address  from  this  point. 
He  proceeds  to  emphasize  the  need  of  attention 
to  methods  of  intercourse  with  Great  Britain, 
and  of  care  with  regard  to  secret  enemies  at  home 
and  abroad,  with  the  protection  of  seacoasts  and 
commerce,  as  well  as  the  defence  of  the  western 
frontier.  Support  of  the  separation  of  legislative 
and  judicial  powers  of  the  government  is  recom 
mended;  also  an  avoidance  of  any  infringement 
of  the  rights  of  conscience;  which  evidently  sug 
gested  a  plea  for  the  relief  of  the  teachers  of  re 
ligion  and  morality  who  had  suffered  by  the  de 
preciation  of  currency;  also  for  distressed  widows 
and  orphans  of  soldiers.  A  due  observance  of 
the  Lord's  Day,  and  the  support  of  religious  in 
stitutions,  deserves  the  attention  of  civil  govern 
ment;  also  provision  for  the  education  of  youth, 
established  by  the  fathers,  should  be  continued 
and  increased  in  the  care  and  patronage  of  public 
schools  and  the  university  at  Cambridge.  Early 
revision  of  the  laws  of  the  Commonwealth  is  rec 
ommended,  with  special  reference  to  the  militia, 


272  John  Hancock 

and  for  the  suppression  of  idleness,  dissipation, 
extravagance,  and  the  encouragement  of  their 
contrasting  virtues.  In  all  these  measures  he 
promised  cheerful  concurrence  and  every  despatch 
in  his  power.  He  closed  with  these  words :  — 

"May  the  new  government  diffuse  a  new  animation 
through  the  whole  political  body;  the  people  expect  much 
from  it,  perhaps  more  in  some  points  than  circumstances 
will  allow  it  to  perform;  but  standing  as  we  do  upon  their 
choice  and  affections,  and  strenuously  exerting  ourselves 
as  we  ought  for  their  interest,  they  may  find  it  happily 
advanced. 

"May  Heaven  assist  us  to  set  out  well,  to  brighten  the 
auspices  of  our  Constitution,  to  render  it  still  more  beloved 
and  admired  by  the  citizens  of  this  Commonwealth,  and 
to  recommend  it  to  the  whole  world  by  a  wise  and  impartial, 
a  firm  and  vigorous,  administration  of  it." 

Hancock's  disposition  led  him  to  usher  in  the 
new  government  with  a  display  which  many  con 
sidered  unbecoming  in  a  time  of  general  depres 
sion.  Others  were  glad  of  a  few  days'  festivity 
in  the  prevailing  want  and  financial  distress,  so 
long  as  it  cost  them  little  or  nothing  beyond  ap 
propriate  dress  for  "the  round  of  balls  and  glit 
tering  entertainments  with  which  the  new  govern 
ment  was  inaugurated."  The  Governor  himself 
appeared  in  the  elegant  chariot  which  caused  so 
much  comment  in  Philadelphia  two  years  before, 
when  it  was  "attended  by  four  servants  in  livery, 
mounted  on  fine  horses  richly  caparisoned,  and 
escorted  by  fifty  horsemen  with  drawn  sabres, 


First  Constitutional  Governor      273 

half  of  whom  preceded  and  the  other  half  followed 
his  carriage."  When  plain  Sam  Adams  heard  of 
the  reproduction  of  what  he  had  seen  in  the  Quaker 
city  he  wrote:  "I  am  afraid  there  is  more  pomp 
and  parade  than  is  consistent  with  sober  repub 
lican  principle.  .  .  .  Why  should  this  new  era  be 
introduced  with  entertainments  expensive  and 
tending  to  dissipate  the  minds  of  the  people?" 
But  this  was  Hancock's  supreme  hour.  He  had 
attained  the  highest  political  eminence  possible 
to  a  civilian :  he  was  going  to  make  the  most  of  it, 
for  his  own  gratification  and  for  the  entertainment 
of  his  friends.  His  warehouse  had  been  burned, 
but  the  British  had  not  greatly  damaged  his 
mansion,  and  his  fortune  was  not  all  gone. 

Moreover,  there  was  no  lack  of  furnishings  and 
table  appointments  suited  to  his  lavish  hospital 
ity.  The  linen  tablecloths  and  napkins  in  which 
the  host  took  such  pride  he  declared  were  "the 
most  genteel  in  the  country."  Six  dozen  pewter 
plates,  bearing  his  family  crest,  kept  bright  with 
daily  use  or  polishing,  were  more  to  his  liking  than 
the  "India  china  set,  as  it  was  softer  and  rattled 
less,  and  food  was  less  apt  to  fall  off."  Much 
of  his  silver  bore  the  Tower  of  London  stamp. 
There  were  four  dozen  silver  forks,  the  same 
number  of  spoons,  several  tankards  of  different 
sizes  up  to  a  gallon  flagon  which  was  devoted  to 
hot  punch  and  named  for  his  friend  Solomon 
Townsend  —  possibly  in  token  of  that  worthy's 


274  J°hn  Hancock 

capacity  and  valor  at  the  festive  board.  A  silver 
porter-cup  of  half  a  gallon,  whose  two  handles 
might  have  made  it  serve  as  a  loving-cup  passing 
from  hand  to  hand;  four  silver  chafing-dishes  elabo 
rately  chased,  as  many  butter-boats;  asparagus 
tongs  and  half  a  dozen  heavy  silver  candlesticks, 
with  snuffers  and  trays  to  match;  silver  finger- 
bowls  and  salvers  in  their  place  and  time,  all  to 
gether  made  table  and  sideboard  resplendent.  Ac 
cording  to  the  taste  of  the  day  the  fare  matched 
the  table  furnishings.  The  codfish  which  he  took 
pains  to  have  from  the  Bay  when  he  lived  in  Phila 
delphia  and  Baltimore  was  good  enough  for  his 
spring  Fast  Day  dinner;  and  the  first  salmon  of 
the  season,  for  which  he  paid  a  guinea  was  a  delicacy 
on  any  feast  day;  albeit  he  by  no  means  sub 
sisted  upon  fish  alone,  as  is  evident  from  his  pur 
chasing-orders  and  complimentary  remembrances 
to  friends  even  as  far  away  as  London.  People 
ate  to  live  in  those  days,  even  if  some  of  them 
lived  to  eat  and  to  drink,  thereby  hastening 
their  demise. 

Apparel  matched  other  splendors  in  the  Hancock 
house.  A  hint  of  this  can  be  seen  in  the  scarlet 
velvet  coat  and  white  silk  embroidered  waistcoat 
preserved  in  the  Old  State  House,  supplemented 
in  their  day  by  silk  of  many  colors  and  lace  with 
out  end.  The  costliness  of  Mrs.  Hancock's  attire 
and  its  variety  do  not  so  much  amaze  the  present- 
day  woman,  since  between  the  adornment  of 


First  Constitutional  Governor      275 

colonial  dames,  then  and  now,  there  is  less  dif 
ference  than  between  that  of  their  respective 
consorts.  A  wedding  fan  of  white  kid,  painted 
in  Paris  with  appropriate  designs,  and  a  piece 
of  muslin,  costing  in  India  six  dollars  a  yard  before 
it  left  the  loom,  will  appear  extravagant  to  some. 
Other  women  may  think  that  Mrs.  Hancock  was 
moderate  in  her  expenditures.  It  is  a  matter 
of  comparative  ability  among  contemporaries. 
At  this  time  Hancock  kept  the  reputation  of  being 
one  of  the  wealthiest  citizens  in  a  town  where 
everybody  had  suffered  losses,  and  all  values  had 
been  depleted  by  the  distresses  of  war  years.1 
The  first  of  them  had  interrupted  business  with 
London  and  other  foreign  ports.  Accounts  could 
not  be  adjusted  with  agents  nor  collections  made 
abroad;  while  at  home  great  losses  occurred  in 
the  depreciation  of  paper  currency,  which  the 
States  found  it  easier  to  print  than  to  redeem. 
Hancock  lost  thousands  of  pounds  sterling,  which 
should  be  placed  to  the  credit  of  his  patriotism 
in  a  time  when,  as  in  recent  wars,  there  were  many 
who  talked  noisily  for  a  cause  which  made  them 
rich  through  its  necessities  and  their  own  greed. 
History  remembers  its  military  heroes,  but  for 
gets  the  men  who  furnish  arms  and  ammunition. 

1  An  account  of  the  damages  done  to  Hancock's  estate  by  the 
British  army,  dated  Feb.  28,  1777,  to  the  amount  of  £4737,  i,  8f , 
is  contained  in  the  "Chamberlain  Ms.,"  No.  255,  Boston  Public 
Library. 


276  John  Hancock 

After  a  decade  Hancock's  public  service  occupied 
so  much  of  his  time  and  attention  that  he  turned 
his  business  affairs  over  to  an  agent,  William 
Hoskins,  to  act  for  him  at  home  and  abroad.  His 
native  town  and  State  had  conferred  their  highest 
honors  upon  him,  and  the  return  he  made  was 
such  as  he  could  best  render  for  values  received; 
even  though  it  went  further  with  the  populace 
than  its  cost  would  have  gone  with  a  needy  army. 
If  it  also  gratified  his  vanity  and  contributed  to 
his  popularity  and  political  success,  that  was  his 
partial  compensation  for  what  he  lavished.  Be 
cause  he  was  vain  and  sometimes  capricious  it 
is  not  necessary  to  assert  that  every  generous  act 
of  his  was  to  win  applause ;  since  until  his  govern 
orship,  and  even  the  later  treaty  of  peace,  the 
outlook  for  any  prominent  patriot  was  far  from 
assuring.1  Nor  did  the  governor  of  the  new  State 
find  conditions  vastly  improved  over  those  of  the 
old  colony.  The  inhabitants  had  not  changed 
their  nature  with  their  political  constitution. 
Depression  and  discontent  prevailed  in  the  land, 
privation  and  distress  in  the  army.  In  New 
England  courage  and  determination  slackened 

1  Doubtless  there  was  great  appreciation  of  John  Hancock's 
services  to  the  cause  on  the  evening  of  March  4th,  1784,  when  he 
entertained  "His  Honor,  the  Lieut.  Governor,  the  Council,  the 
President  of  the  Senate,  the  Speaker  of  the  House,  together  with  a 
number  of  other  respectable  gentlemen,"  on  the  occasion  of  cele 
brating  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Great  Britain.  —  Ayer's  "Early 
Days  on  Boston  Common,"  p.  38. 


First  Constitutional  Governor    277 

after  disasters  in  the  South,  and  there  was  a  grow 
ing  desire  for  peace  in  some  sections  which  were 
getting  ready  to  accept  liberal  terms  of  settlement, 
without  express  acknowledgment  of  independence, 
which  the  British  Ministry  offered. 

Although  Massachusetts  did  not  propose  such 
abandoning  of  its  steadfast  purpose,  it  had  troubles 
of  its  own  ambushed  in  the  near  future.  The 
cessation  of  hostilities  soon  after  Cornwallis's 
surrender  by  no  means  ended  embarrassments 
for  the  governor  of  a  State.  War  had  brought 
new  evils  which  were  to  flourish  after  its  close. 
Privateering  and  speculation  and  war-contracts 
had  made  rich,  daring,  and  venturesome  men, 
creating  distinctions  of  wealth,  breeding  dis 
content  between  classes  and  masses,  town  and 
country  people.  Back  in  the  western  counties 
strife  was  brewing  over  taxation  and  debt.  Courts 
were  menaced  with  violence  in  Springfield  and 
Northampton.  Armed  malcontents  assembled  in 
the  field  against  State  forces,  which  they  captured, 
and  released  in  Hadley  by  the  riverside,  to  be 
themselves  made  captive  in  turn  by  the  militia 
and  dispersed;  but  the  mob-spirit  was  not  anni 
hilated.  It  would  soon  break  out  again.  The 
causes  of  discontent  were  increasing.  The  year 
1780  was  one  of  disasters.  In  the  South  Charleston 
had  surrendered,  and  the  State  was  overrun  by 
the  British.  Gates  had  been  ignominiously  de 
feated.  It  was  the  dark  hour  before  daybreak, 


278  John  Hancock 

and  no  one  as  yet  saw  a  streak  of  dawn.  Four 
years  had  passed  since  independence  was  declared, 
but  the  States  were  neither  free  nor  united.  Con 
gress  was  deteriorating;  there  was  no  efficient 
administration;  the  conduct  of  the  war  languished ; 
resources  and  energies  were  wasted. 

The  symptom  of  general  depression  which  was 
most  evident  was  the  financial  condition.  It 
was  easier  to  issue  paper  currency  than  to  give 
it  much  value;  so  Congress  printed  more  and 
more  of  it  until,  as  Washington  said,  it  took  a 
wagon  load  of  money  to  buy  a  wagon  load  of  pro 
visions.  "Not  worth  a  Continental"  is  a  phrase 
which  has  come  down  from  the  month  of  Han 
cock's  first  inauguration,  when  it  took  ten  paper 
dollars  to  make  a  cent;  when  Indian  corn  was 
sold  at  wholesale  in  Boston  for  $150,00  a  bushel, 
butter  at  $12,00  a  pound,  tea  $90,00,  sugar,  $10,00, 
beef  $8,00  and  a  barrel  of  flour  at  $1575,00.*  If  the 
poor  and  prudent  Samuel  Adams  paid  $2,000  for 
a  hat  and  a  suit  of  clothes,  what  might  John 
Hancock's  annual  outfit  have  cost?  is  a  problem 
to  be  computed  by  logarithmic  calculation  or  by 
the  cart-load  of  paper  money.  Of  course  this  vari 
able  and  almost  valueless  currency  was  a  boon  to 
impecunious  debtors  when  no  agreement  had 
been  made  with  their  creditors  about  standards  in 
payment.  He  was  poor  indeed  and  honest  who 
would  not  discharge  a  debt  of  a  thousand  dollars 

1  Trevelyan's  "George  III.  and  Charles  Fox,"  I,  272. 


First  Constitutional  Governor    279 

with  ten  in  gold ;  but  many  did  this  to  the  ruin 
of  friends  who  had  trusted  to  their  honor  and  to 
the  financial  standing  of  a  confederacy  which  was 
not  yet  a  nation  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

It  has  been  seen  that  the  first  governor  urged 
making  efforts  to  maintain  the  credit  of  the  State. 
These  were  not  very  successful.  The  General 
Court's  appeal  to  the  people  contained  suggestive 
words  about  "  giving  up  every  consideration  of 
private  advantage,  and  the  inattention  or  avarice 
of  any  part  of  the  community."  £950,000  was  the 
estimate  of  what  would  be  required  by  the  State 
for  the  year  1781.  The  means  proposed  to  meet 
this  need  were  uncollected  taxes,  sales  of  Loyalists' 
estates,  a  direct  tax  of  £320,000,  and  borrowing 
the  remainder.  In  addition,  Congress  called  on 
Massachusetts  for  its  proportion  of  war  assess 
ment,  amounting  to  almost  $2,000,000.  Taken  all 
together  it  was  a  staggering  burden  for  a  poverty- 
stricken  State,  whose  industries  had  been  crippled 
by  British  oppression  and  war.  In  their  despair 
some  attempted  to  interfere  with  the  administra 
tion  of  justice  and  enforcement  of  the  laws;  but 
the  intelligence  and  fidelity  of  the  better  part 
prevailed.  The  next  year  the  State  was  obliged 
to  borrow,  paying  the  troops  what  it  could,  and 
hoping  for  a  return  from  the  United  States  some 
time  in  the  future.1 

1  The  war  cost  England  still  more,  —  the  loss  of  thirteen  colo 
nies  and  four  islands,  and  more  than  £70,000,000,  It  was  an 


280  J°hn  Hancock 

When  the  war  ended  in  the  spring  of  1783  there 
was  great  rejoicing,  but  financial  troubles  were 
not  over.  The  public  debt  was  so  large  that  many 
said  it  would  be  impossible  to  pay  it,  and  they 
saw  no  way  out  but  by  repudiation,  to  the  loss 
of  creditors  and  the  destitution  of  returned  soldiers. 
Governor  Hancock  urged  the  General  Court  to  make 
immediate  provision  for  paying  officers  and  soldiers 
a  part  at  least  of  their  dues,  reminding  legis 
lators  of  "the  obligations  of  the  country  for  meri 
torious  services  which  should  never  be  forgotten." 
Upon  his  recommendation  an  additional  tax  of 
$470,000  was  voted  for  this  purpose.  Soldiers' 
certificates  for  wages  were  at  this  time  bringing 
only  twelve  and  a  half  cents  on  the  dollar ;  a  mere 
pittance  for  their  services  and  sufferings.  All 
these  circumstances,  severally  and  together,  caused 
a  widespread  discontent;  which  was  not  allayed 
by  the  call  in  1784  for  $1,800,000  as  the  State's 
share  of  a  congressional  assessment  upon  the 
country  for  that  year,  with  $95,000  more  to  satisfy 
immediate  demands  to  pay  interest  due  and  an 
installment  on  a  debt  in  Europe  for  funds  bor 
rowed  by  Franklin  for  the  State.  At  this  time 
also  questions  of  state  sovereignty  and  the  rights 
of  refugees  to  their  property  abandoned  in  flight 

expensive  defence  of  "the  right"  to  tax  colonists,  followed  by 
failure.     Marks'  "England  and  America,"  n,  1057. 

England's  debt  was  increased  by  the  American  war  £i  1 5,654,000 
up  to  January,  1783.  Rose's  "William  Pitt  and  National  Re 
vival,"  1, 179. 


First  Constitutional  Governor     281 

caused  discussions  which  added  to  the  burdens  of 
the  executive  office.  After  five  years  in  it  Han 
cock's  health  became  seriously  affected,  and  in  the 
winter  of  1785  he  deemed  it  prudent  to  resign.1 
No  doubt  his  withdrawal,  if  not  his  malady,  was 
hastened  by  complaints  of  the  discontented  that 
stronger  measures  had  not  been  employed  and 
more  promptly  to  collect  the  public  taxes.  It  was 
an  instance  of  forbearance  and  leniency  against 
necessity  and  duty.  Some  were  quick  to  impute 
such  clemency  to  a  love  of  popularity  or  a  lack  of 
firmness  in  his  administration.  It  is  more  prob 
able  that  he  saw  a  storm  gathering  which  he  could 
not  avert,  and  had  not  the  physical  strength  to 
weather,  and  so  was  willing  to  let  a  rival  candidate 
in  a  former  election  take  his  turn  in  an  ominous 
year.  James  Bowdoin  was  elected  his  successor 
in  May,  1785.  At  the  same  time  Hancock  was 
chosen  one  of  the  representatives  to  the  General 
Court,  and  afterward  a  delegate  to  Congress 
again,  where  he  was  elected  its  president  once 
more  for  the  short  time  that  he  remained.  He 
had  only  to  appear  as  a  member  of  a  deliberative 
body  to  be  chosen  to  preside  over  it.  When  it  is 
remembered  what  a  test  of  fairness  and  good 
temper  such  a  position  is,  it  is  strong  evidence 
of  their  possession  that  he  was  repeatedly  called 

1  The  original  draft  of  his  resignation  message,  Jan.  27,  1785, 
is  found  in  the  "Chamberlain  Ms."  No.  286,  Boston  Public 
Library. 


282  J°hn  Hancock 

to  the  chairmanship  of  this  and  that  assembly, 
from  town-meetings  to  the  Federal  Congress. 

Governor  Bowdoin  had  been  elected  by  the 
Legislature,  as  there  was  no  choice  by  the  people 
in  a  divided  ballot.  He  took  the  chair  in  a  critical 
time,  knowing  the  difficulties  that  would  beset 
him.  A  State  debt  of  $10,000,000,  with  no  system 
of  credit,  resources  exhausted,  and  discontent 
prevailing  made  the  situation  full  of  anxiety. 
His  first  appeal  was  to  maintain  the  credit  of  the 
State  by  punctual  payment  of  interest  and  the 
diminution  of  public  debt;  also  for  industry, 
retrenchment,  and  economy:  all  of  which  the 
Legislature  received  with  approbation  and  re 
solves  of  co-operation.  But  the  people  were  to 
be  heard  from.  The  prospect  of  raising  $333,000 
annually  for  fifteen  years  to  clear  off  their  debts 
was  appalling;  and  the  lawless  element  rose  in 
arms  against  the  authority  of  the  State  and  of 
the  courts  in  order  to  delay  payment  of  personal 
debts.  The  lower  class  of  malcontents  chose  two 
captains  who  had  seen  service;  and  threatened 
court  houses,  causing  the  justices  to  adjourn  trials. 
The  militia  was  called  out  in  the  eastern  counties 
to  disperse  insurgents,  but  the  courts  deemed  it 
prudent  to  discontinue  business.  A  law  was  passed 
against  riots,  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  was  sus 
pended,  and  the  governor  was  requested  to  hold 
the  militia  in  readiness  to  protect  the  courts. 
At  the  §ame  time  pardon  was  offered  for  past 


First  Constitutional  Governor     283 

disorderly  offences  on  the  promise  of  allegiance 
to  the  commonwealth.  The  lawless  misinterpreted 
this  forbearance,  and  the  violent  urged  "bringing 
the  government  to  terms"  by  marching  to  the 
capital  and  liberating  friends  who  were  held  for 
trial.  Instead,  three  hundred  marched  to  Spring 
field  and  took  possession  of  the  court  house,  where 
their  number  was  increased  to  two  thousand. 
Then  they  advanced  toward  the  arsenal,  to  find 
General  Shepard  with  a  thousand  militiamen  in 
possession.  After  the  first  volley  the  rioters  fled 
to  the  next  town  with  a  loss  of  three  killed.  On 
the  arrival  of  militia  reinforcements,  which  under 
General  Lincoln  quelled  another  uprising  in  Berk 
shire,  the  rebels  were  dispersed,  after  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  had  been  captured,  the  ringleaders 
leaving  the  State  for  their  safety.  By  the  prudence 
and  firmness  of  the  governor,  supported  by  the 
Legislature  and  the  militia,  most  of  whom  were 
more  distressed  than  the  rebellious  mob,  the  limits 
of  personal  freedom  in  the  State  were  defined  and 
license  rebuked.  Fourteen  were  sentenced  to 
die,  of  whom  eight  were  afterward  pardoned,  and 
the  others  reprieved.  Thus  ended  Shays'  Rebel 
lion,  quelled  by  the  vigor  of  James  Bowdoin. 

As  to  what  John  Hancock  would  have  done  with 
it  there  were  diverse  opinions.  Generally  it  was 
conceded  that  in  his  state  of  infirm  health,  and  with 
his  lenient  spirit,  joined  to  his  regard  for  favor 
among  all  classes,  it  was  worldly  wisdom  in  him 


284  J°hn  Hancock 

to  be  free  from  official  responsibility  in  this  perilous 
juncture.  But  there  was  no  wind  that  did  not 
blow  some  good  to  him.  Governor  Bowdoin's 
decision  and  promptness,  which  saved  the  State, 
was  contrasted  by  the  restless  with  the  milder 
course  which  Hancock  might  have  pursued,  without 
considering  its  disastrous  consequences  to  the 
people  at  large.  Accordingly,  the  disgruntled 
were  ready  to  avenge  themselves  at  the  next 
election  by  throwing  Bowdoin  over  and  choosing 
Hancock,  who  had  now  conveniently  recovered 
so  far  that  he  dared  undertake  a  peaceful  adminis 
tration.  It  was  also  thought  that  he  would 
"  favor  more  indulgent  measures  towards  the  people 
in  deferring  the  collection  of  taxes  and  in  the  pay 
ment  of  the  public  debt."  He  had  by  no  means 
countenanced  disorder,  but  was  considered  more 
compassionate  or  patient  in  the  distressed  con 
dition  of  the  people.  The  popular  approval  of 
his  candidacy  was  measured  by  the  large  majority 
of  votes  which  he  received,  although  Governor 
Bowdoin  had  a  generous  support,  probably  from 
the  more  respectable  voters. 

Early  in  this  administration  Governor  Hancock 
won  praise  by  relinquishing  a  third  of  his  salary 
at  a  time  when  a  committee  was  considering  the 
expediency  of  reducing  certain  official  stipends. 
It  was  a  good  example,  which  fortunately  he  was 
able  to  set ;  but  he  wished  that  it  might  not  be 
considered  as  holding  for  over  one  year.  When 


First  Constitutional  Governor    285 

in  the  following  year  he  intimated  his  wish  for 
a  return  to  the  original  amount,  the  Legislature 
prolonged  his  temporary  benevolence  by  not 
granting  his  desire.  Governor  Bowdoin  did  not 
listen  to  a  similar  suggestion  in  his  administration, 
and  it  was  reported  that  his  successor  regretted 
that  he  had  not  pursued  the  same  course.  The 
difference  between  voluntary  generosity  and  in 
voluntary  became  inconveniently  apparent  the 
second  year,  with  an  unusual  application  of  the 
adage,  "He  gives  twice  who  gives  promptly." 

The  Federal  Constitution  was  before  the  States 
for  approval  at  this  time,  and  was  laid  before  the 
Massachusetts  Legislature  by  the  governor  with 
commendatory  words  on  the  result  of  wise  delibera 
tion  in  Congress,  in  a  conciliatory  spirit,  by  some 
of  the  ablest  men  in  the  Union ;  and  he  suggested 
calling  a  convention  to  consider  its  approval. 

Three  hundred  and  sixty  delegates  assembled 
in  January,  1788,  and  chose  Governor  Hancock  to 
preside.  Opposition  to  the  Constitution  appeared 
at  once  as  abridging  the  prerogatives  of  State  legisla 
tures  and  giving  too  much  power  to  Congress. 
State  sovereignty  and  State  separatism  were  convic 
tions  not  easily  eradicated.  Sectional  antagonism 
came  to  the  front  over  the  provision  to  count  five 
slaves  as  three  freemen  in  apportioning  the  number 
of  representatives  from  the  southern  States.  As 
the  discussion  went  on  it  came  to  be  understood 
that  the  government  would  be  partly  federal  and 


286  J°nn  Hancock 

partly  national.  National  in  matters  relating 
to  the  welfare  of  the  Union:  federal  in  its  powers 
for  specific  purposes  to  which  no  single  State  was 
competent.  Opponents  were  at  first  in  the  major 
ity,  and  might  have  succeeded  in  rejecting  the 
Constitution  if  Governor  Hancock  had  not  proposed 
that  several  articles  embodying  suggestions  that 
had  been  made  during  the  debate  of  three  weeks 
should  be  recommended  for  incorporation  in  the 
Constitution.  In  the  hope  that  these  definitive 
and  restrictive  amendments  might  be  adopted 
several  were  induced  to  vote  for  ratification ;  and 
the  endorsement  finally  passed  by  a  small  majority. 
The  wisdom  of  Hancock's  action  was  confirmed  in 
the  approval  of  the  suggested  amendments  by  two- 
thirds  of  the  States  and  the  incorporation  of  these 
provisions  into  the  Constitution.  They  were  not 
altogether  of  his  devising :  he  did  not  pose  as  a 
statesman ;  but  he  had  the  tact  and  influence  and 
wisdom  to  guide  a  many-minded  assembly  into 
the  best  way  out  of  difficulty  and  to  the  saving  of 
the  confederacy  from  practical  dissolution. 

At  this  point  it  is  proper  to  notice  a  charge 
made  against  him  at  the  time  by  his  political 
enemies,  which  has  been  perpetuated  in  tradition 
and  narrative. 

When  the  Convention  assembled  the  Federalist 
friends  of  the  Constitution  had  extreme  doubts 
about  its  acceptance.  The  opposition  were  reason 
ably  confident  of  its  rejection.  Not  until  the 


First  Constitutional  Governor    287 

scheme  of  amendments  was  devised  could  much 
favorable  progress  be  made.  To  give  weight  to 
the  proposal  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  have 
it  emanate  from  some  one  occupying  a  neutral 
position,  having  the  confidence  of  the  people  and 
with  great  influence  over  them.  Hancock,  pres 
ident  of  the  Convention,  was  selected  as  such  a 
man.  Up  to  the  amendment  device  he  had  not 
declared  for  the  Constitution  nor  had  he  appeared 
in  the  chair.  His  detractors  said  that  his  con 
venient  gout  kept  him  at  home  and  added,  that 
he  was  induced  to  attend  at  last  by  promises  of 
support  at  the  next  gubernatorial  election  and  of 
nomination  to  the  vice-presidency,  which  had 
already  been  talked  of,  especially  in  the  South. 
His  friends  might  have  answered,  that  he  was 
suffering  greatly  in  these  last  years,  but  came  in 
spite  of  his  infirmities,  and  that  if  promises  of 
preferment  were  made,  it  was  not  the  first  instance 
of  political  methods  of  persuasion,  as  it  was  by 
no  means  to  be  the  last.  The  truth  is,  that  in  so 
momentous  a  question  Hancock  was  no  more 
hesitant  than  the  Convention  itself,  a  majority  of 
which  was  at  first,  Sam  Adams  among  the  number, 
opposed  to  the  Constitution.  When  the  preju 
dices  of  some  were  modified  by  qualifying  amend 
ments,  formulated  by  Federalist  leaders,  Hancock 
saw  a  possible  settlement  of  the  question.  Then 
he  was  encouraged  to  propose  and  defend  the 
added  provisions,  leaving  the  chair  and  taking 


288  John  Hancock 

the  floor  for  this  purpose,  with  such  success  that 
even  Samuel  Adams  was  induced  to  move  their 
adoption.  A  sufficient  number  were  also  per 
suaded  to  side  with  the  Federalists  to  carry  the 
ratification  by  nineteen  votes  out  of  a  total  of 
three  hundred  and  fifty-five ;  so  narrow  a  majority 
as  to  indicate  that  there  were  still  many  doubts 
as  to  the  expediency  of  a  constitutional  govern 
ment.  When,  however,  the  measure  was  finally 
carried  the  opposition  gracefully  and  rapidly 
acquiesced,  and  great  was  the  rejoicing  in  Boston 
and  throughout  the  Commonwealth. 

A  result  of  still  greater  consequence  followed  in 
the  endorsement  of  the  Constitution  by  States 
which  had  waited  to  see  how  Massachusetts 
would  go;  whose  lead  would  have  been  followed 
in  rejecting  as  readily  as  in  accepting  a  union. 

If,  then,  the  constitutional  union  of  States 
depended  upon  the  decision  of  Massachusetts,  as 
the  record  shows ;  and  if  this  decision  was  brought 
about  by  the  instrumentality  of  John  Hancock, 
what  measure  of  credit  can  fairly  be  accorded 
him  for  his  share  in  saving  the  Republic  in  its 
infancy?  Grant  that  he  was  merely  a  hinge  on 
which  the  stupendous  issue  slowly  turned ;  there 
was  enough  of  force  in  it  to  swing  open  the  portal 
for  a  broadening  future  of  liberty  and  union 
under  a  constitution,  instead  of  disintegration 
under  a  loose  confederacy  of  petty  principalities. 
Say  that  he  was  no  more  than  the  pivot  on  which 


First  Constitutional  Governor     289 

the  scale-bar  trembles  and  wavers;  but  when 
his  words  and  influence  were  thrown  into  the  right 
scale  was  he  a  mere  spokesman  of  the  Federalists, 
or  once  more  a  deliverer  of  discordant  States  from 
eventual  separation?  He  had  helped  to  keep  up 
the  French  alliance  in  a  time  when  it  might  have 
been  dissolved  to  the  loss  of  our  independence. 
Now,  he  more  than  assisted  in  making  liberty 
continuous  in  a  united  nation.  If  he  was  not  a 
great  man  he  was  most  fortunate  in  standing  at 
the  parting  of  the  ways  and  in  pointing  out  the 
direction  in  which  victory  and  perpetuity  were 
eventually  found  to  lie.  If  his  presence,  his 
influence,  his  urbanity,  his  personality,  had  been 
absent  on  two  critical  occasions  at  least,  the  for 
tunes  of  the  country  might  have  been  great  mis 
fortunes.  Let  him  have  the  honor  that  is  his 
due.1  The  following  extract  from  his  Message  to 
the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  in  1790,  copied 
from  the  manuscript  in  the  Greenough  collection, 
is  .an  illustration  of  his  attitude. 

"I  congratulate  you,  Gentlemen,  on  the  accession  of 
another  State  to  our  Union;  and  am  happy  to  say,  that  I 
am  persuaded  that  the  Wisdom  and  tried  patriotism  of  the 

1  For  accounts  of  this  incident  compare  Hannis  Taylor's 
"  Origin  and  Growth  of  the  American  Constitution,"  pp.  209,  210 ; 
Judson's  "  Lives  of  the  Signers,"  p.  29 ;  Bancroft's  "  Constitu 
tional  History  of  the  United  States,"  n,  258,  note  2  ;  G.  T.  Curtis's 
"  Constitutional  History,"  I,  653 ;  and  for  adverse  testimony, 
Harding's  "  Constitution  in  Massachusetts,  Harvard  Historical 
Studies,"  n,  c.  5. 


290  J°hn  Hancock 

Citizens  of  Rhode  Island  will  very  soon  compleat  the  Union 
of  all  the  Independent  States  of  America  under  the  System 
of  General,  National  Government;  the  administration  of 
which  cannot  fail  to  establish  peace  and  harmony  between 
them  at  home.  .  .  . 

"I  congratulate  you  with  great  pleasure,  Gentlemen, 
upon  the  happy  situation  of  our  Country.  But  the  pleasing 
prospects  afforded  by  divine  Providence,  ought  not  by  any 
means  to  be  the  occasion  of  our  relaxing  in  our  endeavors 
for  the  public  weal."  .  .  . 

As  if  in  recompense  his  own  State  was  almost 
the  first  to  profit  by  the  new  order.  On  the  adjust 
ment  of  claims  for  advances  made  to  the  govern 
ment  it  was  found  that  Massachusetts  had  already 
paid  a  large  proportion  of  her  dues,  leaving  a 
small  amount  to  be  met.  Taxes  being  reduced, 
prosperity  followed  a  new  stability  under  the 
Union.  Soldiers  who  had  been  able  to  keep  their 
certificates  were  having  them  paid,  principal  and 
interest;  good  feeling  was  restored,  and  the 
Governor's  customary  good  fortune  returned  with 
his  re-occupation  of  the  gubernatorial  chair,  to 
which  he  was  again  elected  the  following  year. 

Prosperity,  however,  has  its  dangers;  as  when 
his  arbitrary  treatment  of  Lieutenant-governor 
Lincoln  recalled  his  occasional  sobriquet  of  "King 
Hancock."  It  might  have  been  a  pique  at  the 
general's  successful  quelling  of  Shays'  rebellion; 
but  whatever  the  cause,  his  conduct  towards  Lin 
coln  was  ungenerous  to  say  the  least.  The  lieu 
tenant-governor,  as  such,  received  no  salary ; 


First  Constitutional  Governor     291 

but  had  usually  been  appointed  commander  of 
the  Castle  with  a  thousand  dollars  compensation 
for  his  services.  Governor  Hancock  did  not 
appoint  General  Lincoln  to  the  command.  When 
inquiry  was  made  by  the  Legislature,  the  Governor 
replied  that  he  had  the  sole  right  to  appoint, 
and  that  it  was  for  him  to  decide  whether  or  not 
he  would  have  anyone  to  command  the  Castle. 
He  may  have  had  the  legislative  economy  in  mind 
by  which  his  own  salary  was  cut  down;  but  this 
was  the  arbitrary  act  of  one  man  in  power;  by 
which  he  deservedly  lost  many  friends.  A  com 
mittee  was  formed  which  reported  in  favor  of  a 
salary  of  six  hundred  dollars ;  that  sum  Hancock's 
party  in  the  House  reduced  to  five  hundred  and 
thirty-three  dollars.  However,  his  arbitrary  act 
was  rebuked  by  this  vote  of  the  General  Court.1 
With  better  grace  he  endorsed  what  may  have 
been  an  over-statement  of  his  real  sentiments  in 
an  address  to  President  Washington  at  his  inaugura 
tion  in  April,  1781,  in  which  gratitude  was  expressed 
for  his  services,  admiration  of  his  character,  con 
fidence  in  his  wisdom,  and  the  expectation  of 
justice,  fortitude,  and  patriotism  in  his  adminis- 

1  He  fared  worse  himself.  On  the  i6th  December,  1778,  Con 
gress  "  took  into  consideration  the  proper  allowance  for  the  honor 
able  gentlemen  who  had  served  as  President,  and  they  were  asked 
to  lay  before  the  treasury  board  an  account  of  their  expenditures." 
Hancock,  however,  had  gone  home.  There  is  no  record  of  his 
having  received  any  compensation  for  his  services.  —  "Journals  of 
Congress,"  m,  157. 


292  J°hn  Hancock 

tration ;   to  which  were  added  congratulations  and 
prayers  for  the  divine  protection  and  blessing. 

In  his  first  message  to  the  Legislature  after  the 
federal  government  was  established  he  spoke  of 
the  benefits  to  be  expected  from  it  to  the  nation 
and  the  State,  and  commended  it  to  the  confidence 
and  support  of  the  people ;  also  the  practice  of 
private  and  social  virtues,  the  encouragement  of 
learning  and  education  as  necessary  to  a  free  gov 
ernment.  "Our  wise  and  magnanimous  ancestors 
were  very  careful  and  liberal  in  the  establishment 
of  institutions  for  this  purpose,  among  which  the 
University  in  Cambridge,  and  grammar  schools 
in  the  several  towns,  were  believed  highly  impor 
tant.  Every  necessary  attention,  I  trust,  will 
be  paid  to  the  former ;  and  I  cannot  but  earnestly 
recommend  to  your  inquiry  the  reason  the  latter 
is  so  much  neglected  in  the  State."  The  last 
part  of  this  sentence  is  not  so  noticeable  as  his 
commendation  of  Harvard  College  at  a  time  when 
it  was  weary  with  making  requests  to  him  as  its 
treasurer  for  a  settlement  of  neglected  accounts. 
Nevertheless  it  returned  his  compliment,  as  will 
be  noted  later.  His  suggestion  of  provision  for 
common  schools  was  followed  by  reviving  an 
early  statute,  by  which  towns  of  two  hundred 
families  were  required  to  employ  graduate  teachers 
who  could  interest  youth  in  the  Latin  and  Greek 
languages;  and  in  smaller  towns  teachers  were 
to  have  a  correct  knowledge  of  English.  So 


First  Constitutional  Governor    293 

much  he  did  toward  the  revival  of  learning  in 
New  England. 

At  this  session  the  Legislature  complimented 
the  governor  by  naming  one  of  the  two  new  counties 
in  the  Maine  district  for  himself  and  the  other 
for  Washington,  with  whom  the  governor  was 
doubtless  pleased  to  be  associated.1  Still,  his 
notion  of  the  respective  dignity  of  State  and  Federal 
executives  would  make  the  honor  of  this  connec 
tion  reciprocal.  To  what  extent  he  held  such 
comfortable  views  was  illustrated  on  the  occasion 
of  Washington's  visit  to  New  England  soon  after 
his  taking  the  presidential  office.2 

After  Hancock's  return  from  the  presidency  of 
Congress  and  his  election  to  the  chief  magistracy 
of  his  native  State,  his  opinion  of  his  own  position 
could  not  have  been  impaired.  He  had  arrived 
at  what  in  those  days  was  a  greater  distinction 

1  A  town  in  Berkshire  County  was  named  for  him  in  1776,  also 
one  in  New  Hampshire  in  1779,  and  another  in  Vermont  in  1778. 
Also  in  the  Public  Records  of  Connecticut,  I,  430,  mention  is  made 
of  the  war  vessel  "Hancock." 

2  To  a  Frenchman  visiting  in  the  country  in  1788  he  gave  this 
impression :  "You  know  the  great  sacrifices  he  made  in  the  Revo 
lution,  and  the  boldness  with  which  he  declared  himself  at  the  be 
ginning  of  the  insurrection.    The  same  spirit  of  patriotism  ani 
mates  him  still.     A  great  generosity,  united  to  a  vast  ambition, 
forms  his  character :  he  has  the  virtues  and  the  address  of  popu- 
larism ;    that  is  to  say,  that  without  effort  he  shows  himself  the 
equal  and  the  friend  of  all.     Mr.  Hancock  is  amiable  and  polite 
when  he  wishes  to  be ;   but  they  say  he  does  not  always  wish  it." 
—  Brissot  de  Warville's  "New  Travels  in  the  U.  S.,"  cited  in 
"Old  Boston  Days  and  Ways,"  p.  373. 


294  J°hn  Hancock 

than  any  except  military  chieftainship.  He  had 
attained  to  civic  eminence,  since  there  was  no 
greater  political  honor  than  to  be  Governor  of 
Massachusetts  in  the  years  before  the  war  closed, 
the  confederation  completed,  and  a  President  of 
the  United  States  elected.  Even  then  there  was 
a  general  disposition  to  magnify  the  relative 
importance  of  a  sovereign  State  in  comparison 
with  that  of  the  new  nation ;  for  it  will  be  remem 
bered  that  the  untried  federation  was  regarded 
with  doubt  and  suspicion  by  many  besides  Samuel 
Adams.  It  was  therefore  a  debatable  question 
whether  the  president  of  an  assemblage  of  naturally 
repellent  principalities  had  as  yet  the  definite 
authority  and  prestige  with  which  nearly  two 
centuries  of  custom  had  clothed  the  august  person 
of  the  chief  magistrate  of  Massachusetts.1 

Hancock  had  now  for  nine  years  been  the  suc 
cessor  to  a  long  and  distinguished  line  of  govern 
ors  and  was  the  first  in  the  new  State  as  the 
successor  to  the  Province,  with  little  change  in 
externals,  when  the  newly  elected  President  of  the 
recently  and  loosely  united  States  was  approach- 

1  In  a  letter  to  General  Washington  General  Lincoln  discussed 
Hancock's  chances  for  the  Vice-Presidency:  "Governor  Hancock 
and  Mr.  John  Adams  are  considered  as  the  candidates  for  that 
office.  .  .  .  The  latter  in  my  opinion  will  be  the  man;  for  I 
cannot  believe  that  the  Governor  would,  under  his  present  state  of 
health,  leave  this  government,  even  if  he  should  be  elected  second 
in  the  new  one."  —  Sparks'  "Writings  of  Washington,  Miscellane 
ous  Letters,"  ix,  557. 


First  Constitutional  Governor    295 

ing  Boston  with  a  retinue  which  now-a-days 
would  not  be  considered  as  republican  in  simplicity.1 
In  addition  to  two  secretaries  and  six  servants 
deputations,  military  and  civil,  had  furnished 
escort  from  the  State  border  at  Springfield  through 
Worcester  to  Cambridge,  where  he  was  met  by 
Samuel  Adams  and  the  Governor's  Council  at 
ten  o'clock  on  Saturday,  October  24,  with  an 
invitation  to  dine  with  Governor  Hancock  when 
he  should  reach  Boston.  On  Washington's  arriv 
ing  at  the  Neck  he  was  met  by  the  selectmen; 
but  at  the  town  line  where  he  expected  to  meet 
the  Governor  his  excellency  did  not  appear.  There 
was  an  embarrassing  delay  for  his  possible  arrival : 
the  day  was  cold  and  raw ;  his  suite  mounted  and 

1  Hancock  had  entertained  Lafayette  on  his  triumphal  progress 
through  the  country  in  1784.  After  Washington  had  entered  the 
State  he  received  the  following  letter  from  Governor  Hancock :  — • 

((f:  "BOSTON  21  October,  1789. 

oIR, 

"Having  received  information  that  you  intended  to  honor  this 
State  with  a  visit,  and  wishing  personally  to  show  you  every  mark 
of  attention,  which  the  most  sincere  friendship  can  induce,  I  beg 
the  favor  of  your  making  my  house  the  place  of  your  residence 
while  you  remain  in  Boston.  I  could  wish,  that  accommodations 
were  better  suited  to  a  gentleman  of  your  respectability,  but  you 
may  be  assured  that  nothing  on  my  part  shall  be  wanting  to  make 
them  as  agreeable  as  possible. 

"As  governor  of  the  commonwealth  I  feel  it  to  be  my  duty  to 
receive  your  visit  with  such  tokens  of  respect,  as  may  answer  the 
expectations  of  my  constituents,  and  may  in  some  measure  express 
the  high  sentiments  of  respect  they  feel  towards  you.  I  have 
therefore  issued  orders  for  proper  escorts  to  attend  you,  etc. 
etc."  — Sparks'  "Writings  of  Washington,"  x,  48,  489. 


296  J°hn  Hancock 

waiting  to  enter  the  town.  At  length  when  it 
was  reported  that  the  Governor  was  not  likely 
to  show  himself,  the  President  inquired  if  there 
was  no  other  road  to  the  town,  and  was  about  to 
turn  back  when  he  was  informed  that  the  munici 
pal  authorities  were  awaiting  him.  Out  of  respect 
to  them  he  passed  on  between  lines  of  citizens 
"classed  in  their  different  professions  and  under 
their  own  banners,"  amidst  acclamations  of  the 
people  to  the  State  House.  There  he  asked  if  the 
Governor  was  in  his  room  above;  because  if  he 
were  he  should  not  ascend  the  stairs.  Being 
assured  that  he  was  not,  he  went  up  to  the  balcony, 
conducted  by  the  Lieutenant-governor  and  council, 
saw  the  long  procession  pass,  and  then  went  to 
the  lodgings  secured  for  him  "at  widow  Ingersoll's, 
which  is  a  very  decent  and  good  house."  Thither 
a  messenger  came  from  the  Governor  to  say  that 
dinner  was  waiting.  He  returned  with  a  reply 
that  the  President  would  dine  at  his  lodgings. 
Washington  wrote  in  his  diary :  - 

"Having  engaged  yesterday  to  take  an  informal  dinner 
with  the  Gov'r  to-day,  but  under  full  persuasion  that  he 
should  have  waited  upon  me  as  soon  as  I  should  have  arrived, 
I  excused  myself  upon  his  not  doing  it,  and  informing  me 
thro'  his  Secretary  that  he  was  too  much  indisposed  to  do 
it,  being  resolved  to  receive  the  visit.  Dined  at  my  lodgings 
where  the  Vice-President  favored  me  with  his  company."  l 

1  Hancock's  rigid  adherence  to  etiquette  is  mentioned  in  the 
Monroe  Correspondence,  "Bulletin  of  Rolls,  Dept.  of  State," 
No.  2,  iia. 


First  Constitutional  Governor      297 

When  the  populace  understood  the  situation  they 
voiced  their  resentment  of  this  indignity  towards 
the  nation's  head ;  for  the  town  was  strongly 
federal  in  its  sentiments,  and  moreover  it  had  not 
forgotten  its  deliverance  from  the  British  thirteen 
years  before,  as  a  panelled  arch  and  canopy  by 
the  State  House  signified,  bearing  the  inscription 
-"Boston  relieved  March  17,  1776."  The  town 
would  have  been  glad  to  entertain  the  President 
if  it  had  not  understood  that  the  Governor  claimed 
the  honor.  To  have  Washington  dine  at  his 
lodgings  mortified  municipal  pride,  as  reflecting 
upon  its  sense  of  honor  and  gratitude  due  to  the 
beloved  head  of  the  nation. 

Hancock's  popularity  was  in  peril.  By  evening 
he  knew  that  he  must  make  amends  to  recover 
lost  favor.  Accordingly  two  members  of  his 
council  were  sent  with  explanations  and  apologies, 
saying  in  the  Governor's  behalf  that  he  was  not 
well;  to  which  the  President  replied:  "Gentlemen, 
I  am  a  frank  man  and  will  be  frank  on  this  occasion. 
For  myself,  you  will  believe  me,  I  do  not  regard 
ceremony ;  but  there  is  an  etiquette  due  my  office 
which  I  am  not  at  liberty  to  waive.  My  claim  to 
the  attention  that  has  been  omitted  rests  upon 
the  question  whether  the  whole  is  greater  than  a 
part.  I  am  told  that  the  course  taken  has  been 
designed,  and  that  the  subject  was  considered  in 
Council."  This  was  denied ;  but  it  was  admitted 
that  it  had  been  observed  that  the  President  of  the 


298  J°hn  Hancock 

United  States  was  one  person  and  the  ambassador 
of  the  French  republic  another.  "Why  that  re 
mark,  sir,  if  the  subject  was  not  before  the  Council  ? 
This  circumstance  has  been  so  disagreeable  and 
mortifying,  that  I  must  say,  notwithstanding  all 
the  marks  of  respect  and  affection  received  from 
the  inhabitants  of  Boston,  had  I  anticipated  it, 
I  would  have  avoided  the  place." 

Governor  Hancock  was  then  advised  by  his 
friends,  after  consultation  on  the  matter  by  them, 
to  reconsider  his  action  and  waive  his  view  of 
etiquette ;  whereupon  he  wrote  :  — 

"Sunday,  26  October,  half  past  twelve  o'clock. 
"The  Governor's  best  respects  to  the  President.  If  at 
home,  and  at  leisure,  the  Governor  will  do  himself  the  honor 
to  pay  his  respects  in  half  an  hour.  This  would  have  been 
done  much  sooner,  had  his  health  in  any  degree  permitted. 
He  now  hazards  everything,  as  it  respects  his  health,  for 
the  desirable  purpose." 

To  this  Washington  replied :  — 

"Sunday,  26  October,  one  o'clock. 

"The  President  of  the  United  States  presents  his  best 
respects  to  the  Governor,  and  has  the  honor  to  inform  him 
that  he  shall  be  at  home  till  two  o'clock.  The  President 
needs  not  express  the  pleasure  it  will  give  him  to  see  the 
Governor;  but,  at  the  same  time,  he  most  earnestly  begs 
that  the  Governor  will  not  hazard  his  health  on  the  occasion." 

Swathed  in  red  baize,  Hancock  rode  in  his  coach 
to  Washington's  lodging  house  at  the  corner  of 
Tremont  and  Court  streets  where  he  was  borne 


First  Constitutional  Governor      299 

in  the  arms  of  attendants  to  the  President's  apart 
ments.  Washington  accepted  Hancock's  invita 
tion  to  dine  with  him;  also  another  from  the 
State  authorities  to  a  public  dinner  at  which 
Hancock  was  not  present;  as  he  could  not  be 
consistently  with  his  severe  and  dramatic  attack 
of  the  gout.  It  had  served  him  a  good  turn  in 
covering  his  retreat  from  high  official  ground; 
which  Washington  had  held  on  his  part  with  equal 
tenacity  on  this  and  other  occasions,  as  was  his 
well-known  custom.  But  having  yielded  to  the 
clamor  of  the  town  at  "the  hazard  of  everything 
as  it  respects  his  health,"  Hancock  evidently 
considered  that  he  had  discharged  all  official 
obligation.1 

1  Ford  states  that  Washington  sent  Major  Jackson  with  a 
note  to  Hancock  saying  that  "if  his  health  permitted  him  to  re 
ceive  company,  it  would  admit  of  his  visiting  the  President ;  " 
which  hardly  follows.  He  also  terms  this  encounter  "an  amusing 
exchange  of  words."  —  "Writings  of  Washington,"  xi,  446, 
note.  With  more  discrimination  H.  C.  Lodge  says  that  "it  had 
a  good  deal  more  real  importance  than  such  points  of  etiquette 
generally  possess."  —  "Historic  Towns," —  Boston/ p.  175.  In 
Lodge's  "Life  of  Washington"  there  is  another  account  of  this 
incident.  Tudor  in  his  "Life  of  Otis"  ascribes  it  to  the  influence 
of  men  indifferent  or  inimical  to  a  federal  government,  and  says 
that  Hancock  regretted  his  mistake  and  subsequently  endeavored 
to  remove  the  impression  it  created. 

"The  two  most  prominent  men  in  New  England  after  the  Vice 
President  (John  Adams)  were  John  Hancock  and  Sam  Adams. 
They  were  decided  Republicans,"  —  that  is,  as  opposed  to  Fed 
eralists,  —  "and  so  were  almost  all  the  distinguished  talent  of  the 
Southern  states  and  three  quarters  of  the  American  people  "- 
at  the  time  of  Hancock's  death.  —  Randall's  "Life  of  Jeffer- 


300  J°hn  Hancock 

The  entire  episode  would  be  amusing  if  it  were 
merely  a  matter  of  personal  etiquette  between 
two  gentlemen  of  the  old  school.  Added  to  this, 
however,  was  the  underlying  sense  of  each  as  to 
what  he  represented.  From  Washington's  view 
point  the  aggregation  of  States  was  greater  than 
one  of  them.  Hancock  regarded  the  age  and 
stability  and  prestige  of  Massachusetts  as  superior 
to  the  "rope  of  sand"  which  held  the  new  federa 
tion  together,  or  the  untested  chain  whose  weak 
links  might  soon  be  discovered.  Or  if  he  agreed 
with  Washington  that  "the  whole  is  greater  than 
a  part,"  he  had  some  reason  to  think  that  he  had 
been  overlooked  a  second  time  when  the  chief 
magistracy  of  the  country  had  been  given  to 
eminence  in  arms  rather  than  in  civil  affairs;  as 
has  happened  after  wars  since  the  Revolution. 

In  the  instance  of  the  first  presidential  election 
Washington's  qualifications  were  so  supreme  that 
competition  with  the  commander-in-chief  would 
not  have  been  thought  of  by  any  man  of  just  self- 
estimation,  or  by  any  one  who  could  rightly 
weigh  the  nation's  general  sentiments  of  gratitude 
and  esteem.  The  verdict  of  time  endorses  the 
judgment  of  contemporaries  that  Washington  was 
both  a  great  general  and  a  wise  president,  which 
cannot  be  said  of  some  of  his  successors. 

son,"  11,  165,  note.  In  1785  "Mr.  Hancock  was  talked  of  by  the 
Southern  States  for  President."  —  Calendar  of  Madison  Corre 
spondence,  "Bulletin  of  the  Bureau  of  Rolls,"  No.  4,  pp.  33,  35. 


First  Constitutional  Governor     301 

This  ceremonial  episode  does  not  appear  to  have 
permanently  injured  Governor  Hancock's  popu 
larity.  The  "Centinel"  of  that  week  coupled  his 
name  with  Washington's  in  verse  which  ran :  — 

"Thou,  too,  illustrious  Hancock  !  by  his  side 
In  every  lowering  hour  of  danger  tried ; 
With  him  conspicuous  o'er  the  beamy  page, 
Descend,  the  theme  of  every  future  age. 
When  first  the  sword  of  early  war  we  drew, 
The  king,  presaging,  fixed  his  eye  on  you ; 
'Twas  your  dread  finger  pressed  the  sacred  seal 
Whence  rose  to  sovereign  power  the  public  weal ! " 

Poetry,  truth,  and  praise  are  not  without  their 
drawbacks  here;  but  doubtless  they  had  their 
customary  worth  in  a  time  when  printed  matter 
was  accepted  at  its  face  value.  Besides,  the 
descendants  of  Puritans,  like  their  forefathers,  had 
a  shamefaced  fondness  for  poor  verse  if  of  domestic 
manufacture.  For  the  standard  foreign  brands 
they  had  neither  appreciation  nor  toleration.1 

1  One  Chapman  Whitcomb  was  inspired  to  write  a  eulogy  on 
Hancock  in  1795  beginning :  — 

"Jove  armed  with  thunder,  ne'er  appeared  so  great." 

Benjamin  Austin  also  apostrophized  him  in  the  style  of  his  day. 
Both  may  be  found  in  Loring's  "Hundred  Boston  Orators," 
p.  122.  The  wife  of  a  Connecticut  soldier  also  showed  her  appre 
ciation  when  she  named  her  triplet  sons  John  Hancock,  George 
Washington,  and  Charles  Lee.  —  "Public  Records  of  Connecticut," 
p.  430. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

TREASURER   OF  HARVARD   COLLEGE 

IN  the  diminution  of  his  fortune  and  the  increased 
outlay  incident  to  the  chief  magistracy  of  Massa 
chusetts  Hancock  wrote,  on  September  24,  1781, 
to  Robert  Morris,  the  financier  of  the  Revolution, 
with  regard  to  reimbursement  for  outlays  attend 
ing  his  presidency  of  Congress :  — 

"Pray  my  friend,  when  will  be  the  properest  time  for  me 
to  be  considered  for  my  expenses,  while  President  of  Con 
gress  ?  They  wrote  me  on  the  subject  some  two  years  ago, 
but  I  waived  troubling  them,  knowing  the  delicacy  of  their 
situation.  Indeed,  I  kept  no  account  of  my  expenses ;  nor 
had  I  time  for  it,  as  you  well  know  how  my  time  was  en 
grossed,  and  the  labors  and  fatigue  I  underwent,  and  the 
expenses  I  must  have  necessarily  incurred.  I  can  speak 
plain  to  you ;  confident  I  am  that  fifteen  hundred  pounds 
sterling  would  not  amount  to  the  expenses  I  incurred  as 
president.  In  this  I  think  I  merit  consideration,  more 
especially  as  grants  have  been  made  to  all  my  successors." 

It  is  not  known  that  he  ever  received  compensa 
tion  for  his  labors  during  the  two  and  a  half  years 
of  his  service  as  President  of  the  Continental 
Congress.  It  will  do  no  harm  to  keep  this  in  mind ; 
and  particularly  his  statement  that  he  kept  no 
account  of  his  expenses  in  the  engrossment  of  his 


Treasurer  of  Harvard  College      303 

time  amidst  the  labor  and  fatigue  of  his  office, 
since  what  has  been  regarded  as  a  sad  dereliction 
in  a  place  of  trust  must  not  be  passed  over,  as  an 
instance  of  undertaking  too  many  responsibilities 
at  once.  This  may  be  an  explanation;  but  it 
cannot  serve  as  a  justification  of  a  course  pursued 
for  years  which  a  resignation  of  the  treasurership  of 
Harvard  College  would  have  made  impossible. 

As  far  back  as  1773,  in  fulfilling  the  liberal  inten 
tion  of  his  uncle  Thomas,  and  by  adding  something 
of  his  own,  Hancock  had  gained  the  credit  of  being 
a  generous  benefactor  to  the  college.  The  most 
popular  man  in  the  Province,  wealthy,  liberal, 
and  patriotic,  he  was  considered  as  a  most  desirable 
person  to  be  connected  with  the  monetary  affairs 
of  the  institution.  Its  funds  would  be  secured 
by  his  ample  fortune ;  his  integrity  was  undoubted. 
But  soon  after  his  election  it  was  discovered  that 
these  qualifications  were  not  all  that  were  required 
in  a  college  treasurer  at  that  time.  Attention 
to  business,  and  keeping  accounts  in  such  order 
that  the  condition  of  the  treasury  could  be  known 
on  demand,  were  found  to  be  of  more  consequence 
than  personal  riches  and  popularity.  Neglect  of 
those  unpretentious  virtues  was  as  perilous  as 
dishonesty.  It  was  unfortunate  for  Harvard 
that  the  patriotism  of  its  treasurer  diverted  his 
attention  from  its  financial  affairs  to  the  larger 
sphere  of  congressional  business.  His  own  business 
was  slack  enough  in  the  days  of  the  Port  Bill  and 


304  J°hn  Hancock 

the  siege;  but  when  he  was  elected  President  of 
Congress  the  concerns  of  the  college  doubtless 
seemed  remote  and  inferior  to  those  of  the  country 
at  large,  with  its  legislation  and  warfare.  Account 
ing  for  funds  and  paying  salaries  of  college  pro 
fessors  was  a  petty  occupation  compared  with 
official  correspondence,  and  presiding  over  a 
Congress  which  represented  the  whole  country. 
He  could  have  easily  thrown  off  the  lesser  responsi 
bility,  and  the  college  stood  ready  to  concur  in 
a  year  after  his  appointment.  His  first  mistake 
was  in  not  disencumbering  himself  of  this  burden. 
That  he  did  not  do  this  was  not  for  the  lack  of 
hints  and  requests.  At  an  early  day  President 
Langdon,  who  had  been  elected  by  the  Corporation 
at  a  meeting  held  at  Hancock's  house,  wrote  him 
urging  the  importance  of  an  immediate  statement 
and  settlement.  No  answer  was  received  to 
this  suggestion.  Two  months  later  another  ap 
peal  was  sent  with  the  same  result.  A  third  letter 
couched  in  the  most  considerate  terms  and  en 
treating  a  reply  elicited  the  information  that  "Mr. 
Hancock  is  busily  engaged,  and  will  soon  appoint 
a  day  to  attend  to  the  business."  Not  appearing 
on  the  day  appointed,  he  postponed  the  matter  to 
the  next  week ;  when  he  did  not  arrive.  Another 
entreaty  to  settle  before  he  should  leave  town,  and 
to  leave  his  accounts  with  college  authorities, 
called  out  no  reply.  Then  they  voted  that  Colonel 
Hancock  be  requested  to  deliver  moneys,  bonds, 


Treasurer  of  Harvard  College     305 

and  other  papers  belonging  to  the  college  treasury 
into  the  hands  of  the  President,  or  of  others  speci 
fied,  and  take  a  receipt  for  the  same.  A  messenger 
took  this  request,  and  Hancock  could  not  escape 
returning  something.  It  was  the  following  letter : — 

"Mr.  Hancock  presents  his  compliments  to  the  Rev. 
President,  and  the  other  gentlemen,  who  were  present  yes 
terday  at  the  meeting,  and  acquaints  them,  that  he  has  at 
heart  the  interest  of  the  College  as  much  as  any  one,  and  will 
pursue  it.  He  is  much  surprised  and  astonished  at  the  con 
tents  of  the  President's  letter,  as  well  as  at  the  doings  of  the 
gentlemen  present,  which  he  very  seriously  resents;  and  how 
ever  great  the  gentlemen  may  think  the  burden  upon  his 
mind  may  be,  Mr.  Hancock  is  not  disposed  to  look  upon 
it  in  that  light,  nor  shall  the  College  suffer  any  detriment,  in 
his  absence,  as  he  has  already  determined  those  matters; 
but  if  the  gentlemen  choose  to  make  a  public  choice  of  a  gentle 
man  to  the  displacing  him,  they  will  please  act  their  pleasure. 
Mr.  Hancock  writes  in  great  hurry,  being  much  engaged, 
but  shall  write  very  particularly,  or  be  at  Cambridge  in 
person,  as  soon  as  the  Congress  rises;  he  leaves  all  his  matters 
in  the  hands  of  a  gentleman  of  approved  integrity,  during  his 
absence,  which  he  is  not  disposed  to  alter,  and  peradventure 
his  absence  may  not  be  longer  than  a  voyage  to  Machias. 

"Concord,  3  o'clock,  P.M.,  n  April,  1775." 

In  ten  days  he  started  for  Philadelphia,  and  the 
Corporation  was  silenced  for  three-quarters  of  a 
year ;  but  they  appointed  the  President  receiver  oi 
rents  from  their  real  estate,  of  legacies  and  dona 
tions,  and  of  the  Charlestown  ferry  earnings;  "the 
Treasurer  having  been  long  absent  and  there  being 
no  expectation  of  his  speedy  re  turn. " 


306  J°hn  Hancock 

Conditions  becoming  insupportable  by  March, 
1776,  another  supplicatory  letter,  begging  "a 
moment's  attention,  reluctant  to  interrupt  Mr. 
Hancock,  engaged  in  momentous  affairs,  on  which 
the  salvation  of  the  United  Colonies  depends,  just 
to  mention  the  difficulties  of  the  seminary  of  learn 
ing."  ...  It  was  a  humble  and  pitiful  state 
ment  of  ruin,  defacement  by  troops,  dispersion  of 
students,  with  no  income  available,  and  no  treas 
urer  to  receive  what  little  could  be  collected.  No 
answer  was  received.  Another  month  and  another 
letter.  Lame  apologies  were  returned  in  three  weeks, 
with  the  information  that  Mr.  Hancock  had  sent 
a  messenger  to  Boston  to  bring  all  the  books  and 
papers  across  the  country  to  Philadelphia  for  his 
arrangement.  By  a  shrewd  suggestion  he  placed  the 
responsiblity  of  requesting  his  resignation  upon  the 
College.  With  many  obeisances  they  tried  to  throw 
this  upon  his  sense  of  duty  to  the  College  and  the 
country,  with  the  possibility  of  reconciling  both; 
intimating  as  plainly  as  they  dared  their  wish  that 
he  would  resign.  After  three  months  a  committee 
was  appointed,  which  in  a  week  evolved  another 
letter  that  in  seven  weeks  drew  a  reply  which  left 
them  to  consider  further  what  to  do  with  the 
evasive  treasurer.  They  sent  tutor  Hall  to  Phila 
delphia  for  the  College  papers.  Two  months  after 
ward  these  were  in  the  Corporation's  possession 
with  bonds  and  other  obligations  amounting  to 
£16,000.  Then  they  were  bold  enough  to  vote, 


Treasurer  of  Harvard  College     307 

after  a  complimentary  preamble,  that  it  was 
"  highly  expedient  that  another  treasurer,  who 
shall  constantly  reside  within  the  State,  be  elected 
in  the  stead,  or  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Hancock."  But 
they  were  too  timid  to  elect  another  until  he  should 
resign.  Three  meetings  were  held  to  prepare  an 
answer  to  a  letter  which  Hall  brought  with  the 
securities.  This  reply  consisted  of  twenty-eight 
pages  of  justification  of  the  Corporation's  action. 
Hancock  took  no  notice  of  it  or  their  vote.  After 
three  months  more  of  waiting  the  authorities 
"  proceeded  to  elect  Ebenezer  Storer,  Esquire,  in 
the  room  of  the  Honorable  John  Hancock";  who 
regarded  this  action  as  a  personal  affront  and  never 
forgave  the  Corporation. 

To  conciliate  him  they  entreated  him  to  present 
his  portrait,  "to  be  drawn  at  the  expense  of  the 
Corporation  and  placed  in  the  philosophy  chamber 
by  that  of  his  honorable  uncle."  He  took  no 
notice  of  this  compliment.  He  might  have  vanity 
in  abundance ;  but  it  had  been  wounded  too 
severely  to  rise  to  that  lure.  He  had,  moreover, 
a  cash  balance  in  his  hands.  After  much  soliciting 
by  another  committee,  to  no  purpose,  it  was 
voted  "to  enter  suit  against  the  late  Treasurer  of 
Harvard  College."  The  authorities  hesitated 
and  postponed  action,  and  finally  rescinded  their 
vote.  The  College  feared  the  Legislature,  in  which 
Hancock's  influence  was  predominant,  and  his 
popularity  undiminished.  Another  appeal  was 


308  J°hn  Hancock 

unnoticed.  Then  came  his  election  as  Governor 
after  these  years  of  solicitation  disregarded.  In 
his  inaugural  address,  as  has  been  mentioned,  he 
"warmly  commended  Harvard  College  to  the 
care  and  patronage  of  the  legislature":  and  the 
Corporation  manifested  their  gratitude  by  ex 
pressing  "  their  happiness  that  a  gentleman  is 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  General  Court  and  of  the 
Overseers,  who  has  given  such  substantial  evidence 
of  his  love  of  letters  and  affection  to  the  College,  by 
the  generous  and  repeated  benefactions,  with  which 
he  hath  endowed  it."  Honors  were  even  now; 
but  when  as  ex-officio  Chairman  of  the  Board  of 
Overseers  he  took  his  seat  he  made  no  answer  to 
their  mention  that  his  accounts  were  still  unsettled, 
nor  to  the  repetition  of  it  once  and  again.  So 
requests  and  silences  succeeded  one  another 
through  five  terms  of  governorship,  until  in  his  last 
one,  when,  giving  notice  of  his  intention  to  resign, 
he  finally  made  a  statement  of  his  accounts,  which 
he  had  withheld  nearly  eleven  years  from  the  first 
request  by  the  Corporation  in  1774.  It  then 
appeared  that  there  was  due  from  him  to  the 
College  a  balance  of  £1,054.  But  no  payment 
was  made.  Two  years  afterward  a  letter  was  sent 
him  saying  that  "the  University  could  not  subsist 
without  receiving  its  interest  money."  He  replied 
enigmatically,  "  It  is  very  well."  More  letters 
elicited  promises  to  pay  in  a  week,  with  repeated 
postponements  and  failures  to  pay.  The  last 


Treasurer  of  Harvard  College      309 

promise  was  for  January,  1793,  to  be  unfulfilled. 
In  October  of  that  year  he  died,  leaving  the  debt 
unpaid.  Two  years  later  his  heirs  paid  nine  years 
interest  on  the  account,  and  in  the  course  of  six 
or  seven  years  completed  payment  of  the  principal, 
but  refused  to  pay  compound  interest,  whereby 
the  College  lost  upwards  of  five  hundred  and 
twenty-six  dollars.1 

The  following  letter  is  of  interest  as  showing 
the  efforts  to  restore  friendly  relations. 

"BOSTON,  Oct'r  20  1783 
"REV.  SIR, 

"However  illiberal  the  Treatment  I  have  met  with  from 
some'of  the  former  and  present  Governors  of  the  College  has 
been  it  shall  never  operate  in  my  mind  to  the  Prejudice  of 
the  University  at  Cambridge.  I  most  sincerely  wish  its 
Enlargement;  the  present  appearance  of  those  Buildings  is 
very  disagreeable  for  want  of  a  reputable  Inclosure,  they 
must  appear  to  a  stranger  as  Buildings  totally  neglected 
&  Deserted,  instead  of  being  improved  for  the  noble  purposes 
they  are  now  Occupied.  I  wish  to  Remedy  this  inconven 
ience,  and  have  to  Request  (if  worthy  your  notice)  that  you 
would  be  pleased  to  give  orders  to  your  College  Corporation 
to  erect  a  Respectable  Fence  around  these  Buildings,  such 
an  one  as  shall  not  Disgrace  the  Buildings,  &  such  an  one 
as  shall  be  pointed  out  to  them  by  your  self  &  Doctor  Cooper, 
whose  Instructions  they  are  to  follow,  &  upon  your  Signify 
ing  the  Corporation  of  the  Business,  &  Transmitting  to  me 
the  Bill  of  its  amount,  it  shall  meet  with  immediate  Pay 
ment. 

1  The  author's  special  acknowledgments  are  due  to  the  Libra 
rian  of  Harvard  University  for  access  to  available  originals  of 
this  correspondence  in  the  Archives  of  the  University. 


310  J°hn  Hancock 

"  My  best  wishes  for  your  prosperity  &  that  of  the  Univer 
sity  under  your  Charge  concludes  me  Rev.  Sir, 
"  Your  very  hum.  Serv't 

"JOHN  HANCOCK. 
"REV.  MR.  PRESIDENT  WILLARD." 

To  this  offer  President  Willard  replied  three 
months  later,  referring  the  whole  matter  of  the 
fence  to  Governor  Hancock,  "  to  direct  every  thing 
agreeably  to  his  taste  which,  I  am  confident  will 
strike  the  taste  of  every  judge  of  architecture." 

Two  years  later  President  Willard  explained  at 
length  that  he  did  not  intend  to  treat  the  Gov 
ernor  with  disrespect  in  assigning  him  a  seat  on 
the  occasion  of  the  dinner  in  honor  of  Marquis  de 
la  Fayette  "  who  was  seated  below  the  President 
on  the  same  bench  —  the  third  place  —  and  your 
Excellency  directly  opposite  —  the  second  place." 

Cordial  understanding  appears  to  have  been  re 
stored  by  1791  when 

"President  Willard  returns  his  most  respectful  compli 
ments  to  his  Excellency  the  Governor,  with  his  best  thanks 
for  his  very  generous  and  acceptable  present  of  Madeira 
and  a  quarter  cask  of  Sherry  wine  and  two  large  loaves  of 
sugar.  The  President  wishes  it  was  in  his  power  more  fully  to 
express  his  feelings  of  gratitude  to  the  Governor  for  his 
munificence  and  kindness."  l 

At  a  distance  of  a  hundred  and  nineteen  years 

from  its  close  the  whole  transaction  looks  like  an 

instance  of  financial  irregularity  through  absence, 

and  pressure  of  more  important  affairs,  with  con- 

1  Ms.  "Archives  of  Harvard  University." 


Treasurer  of  Harvard  College      3 1 1 

tinned  postponement  of  an  evil  day  of  settlement. 
That  there  was  premeditated  purpose  to  use  the 
funds  of  the  College,  or  if  used  never  to  repay 
them,  would  be  the  worst  interpretation  that  can 
be  put  upon  the  attitude  of  Governor  Hancock 
toward  his  alma  mater.  After  reading  President 
Josiah  Quincy's  detailed  account  in  his  "  History  of 
Harvard  College  "  of  the  long  negotiation,  of  which 
a  brief  abstract  has  been  given  above,  it  seems 
uncharitable  to  insist  that  fraud  was  intended. 
But  Hancock's  gross  inattention  to  a  trust  that 
had  been  committed  to  him,  coupled  with  an 
uncivil  neglect  to  reply  to  most  courteous  requests 
for  information,  and  finally  for  relief  by  transfer  of 
the  office  to  another,  is  beyond  apology  and  without 
excuse,  although  a  partial  explanation  may  be 
found  in  his  undertaking  too  much  business  and 
in  the  willingness  to  hold  too  many  offices  and  a 
reluctance  to  surrender  any  one  of  accumulated 
honors.  Still,  the  explanation  does  not  contain 
the  essential  elements  of  an  excuse  or  even  an 
apology. 

There  is,  however,  one  circumstance  in  this 
chapter  of  Hancock's  history  that  is  so  unaccount 
able  that  it  cannot  be  passed  over  without  mention. 
The  writer  of  ten  letters  of  detraction  over  the 
signature  of  "Laco,"  in  the  year  1789,  for  some 
reason  failed  to  take  up  the  most  important  and 
damaging  charge  that  he  might  have  used  against 
the  re-election  of  Hancock  that  year.  He  accused 


312  J°hn  Hancock 

him  of  vanity,  caprice,  extravagance,  social  dissi 
pation,  pliancy,  timidity,  lack  of  statesmanship, 
favoritism,  abuse  of  prerogative,  and  other  faults 
which  had  their  value  in  a  campaign  document, 
but  not  a  word  about  his  delinquencies  as  Treasurer 
of  Harvard.  Such  silence  is  almost  equivalent 
to  an  enemy's  praise.  So  also  Governor  Hutchin- 
son,  who  could  not  be  expected  to  favor  Hancock, 
defended  him  before  the  king,  who  had  received 
impressions  of  financial  irregularity  among  other 
evil  reports  about  the  arch  rebel.  And  if  Samuel 
Adams  had  been  disposed  to  make  capital  out  of 
Hancock's  delinquency,  as  he  was  not,  there  was 
a  restraining  paragraph  in  the  Town  Records  read 
ing:  "We  also  find  that  there  still  remains  to  be 
paid  into  the  Province  Treasury  on  account  of  Mr. 
Samuel  Adams  the  Sum  of  Fifty  Pounds,  and  from 
the  Information  given  us  by  Mr.  Robert  Pierpont 
it  appears  that  there  is  no  probability  that  any  part 
of  the  Sum  of  £1149,  9,  01  remaining  unpaid  of 
Mr.  Adams'  Debt  to  the  Town  will  ever  be  received 
and  paid  into  the  Treasury."  1  Thomas  Gushing, 
Esq.,  and  John  Ruddock,  Esq.,  also  owed  £155 
and  £82  respectively  on  account  of  a  lottery  author 
ized  by  the  General  Court.  Perhaps  the  quantity 
of  glass  in  some  houses  did  not  encourage  stone- 
throwing  at  Hancock. 
In  any  case,  Harvard  misdemeanors  do  not 

1  "Boston  Town  Records,"  1772,  p.  69. 


Treasurer  of  Harvard  College     313 

appear  to  have  affected  his  popularity  with  the 
people  of  Massachusetts,  who  continued  to  elect 
him  as  their  chief  magistrate  year  after  year. 
It  is  also  probable  that  the  College,  knowing  its 
dependence  upon  the  General  Court,  and  having  a 
prudent  sense  of  the  Governor's  influence  with  that 
body,  kept  as  quiet  about  his  mismanagement  as 
circumstances  would  permit.  There  was  a  final 
interchange  of  compliments  when  at  the  installa 
tion  of  President  Willard  Governor  Hancock  called 
the  College  "in  some  sense  the  parent  and  nurse  of 
the  late  happy  Revolution,"  and  the  Corporation 
termed  him  "an  affectionate  and  liberal  son."  To 
which  the  historian  of  this  affair  adds,  that  "Han 
cock's  polished  manners,  wealth,  and  liberality, 
and  patriotism  had  rendered  him  the  most  popular 
man  in  the  province."  Some,  however,  have  not 
yet  forgiven  him  after  a  hundred  and  nineteen 
years,  and  much  of  existing  prejudice  against  him 
can  be  attributed  to  this  unfortunate  part  of  his 
career. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

LAST  YEARS 

WHILE  Governor  Hancock  magnified  his  office 
and  the  rights  of  a  State  which  had  been  foremost 
in  the  Revolution,  and  sometimes  betrayed  a 
lurking  fear  that  the  general  government  might 
assume  undue  power,  he  was  not  so  backward  in 
his  support  of  the  federal  constitution  and  govern 
ment  as  some  of  his  political  associates  were. 
Contending  for  powers  of  the  States  which  had 
not  been  clearly  delegated  to  Congress,  he  also 
kept  in  mind  the  authority  that  had  been  conceded 
to  the  nation.  "We  shall  best  support  the  federal 
system  by  maintaining  the  constitution  and 
government  of  our  own  State.  The  federal  govern 
ment  must  stand  or  fall  with  the  State  govern 
ments.  If  the  federal  government  absorbs  the 
powers  of  the  State  governments,  it  will  become 
a  different  system  from  what  it  was  intended.  To 
maintain  it,  as  it  now  is,  will  be  best  effected  by 
preserving  the  State  governments  in  all  their  just 
authority."  Yet  it  was  hard  to  look  beyond  his 
own  province,  notwithstanding  whatever  broaden 
ing  influences  he  might  have  met  in  his  terms  in 
Congress.  Much  that  he  heard  there  was  of 


Last  Years  315 

States'  rights,  and  little  of  their  obligations  or 
concessions.  It  is  not  strange  therefore  that  his 
federal  sympathies,  though  broad  for  his  day,  were 
subordinate  to  his  sense  of  the  prerogatives  of  the 
Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  and  by  conse 
quence  of  the  other  Commonwealths.  The  nation 
was  to  be  built  upon  thirteen  separate  and  distinct 
pillars.  It  might  hold  them  together;  it  must  not 
fuse  them  into  one  pillar. 

In  one  respect  a  new  cause  of  difference  and 
alienation  was  already  beginning  to  arise  and  to 
emphasize  the  doctrine  of  States'  rights  as  opposed 
to  national  uniformity.  It  began  in  Massachusetts 
when  African  slavery  was  abolished  at  the  adoption 
of  its  constitution.  All  the  colonies  had  been  en 
couraged  by  the  home  government  to  pursue  the 
profitable  trade  in  rum  for  negroes  on  the  Guinea 
Coast.  Royal  governors  were  instructed  to  nega 
tive  bills  passed  by  legislatures  for  the  suppression 
of  this  trade,  in  which  the  nobility  and  the  king 
himself  had  a  profitable  interest.  Still,  despite 
court  example  and  control,  the  colonial  conscience 
was  uneasy  in  the  North  and  frequently  in  the 
South,  and  strong  protests  were  uttered  by  leading 
statesmen.  The  unprofitableness  of  the  system  was 
everywhere  notorious,  and  might  have  ultimately 
destroyed  it,  had  not  the  invention  of  the  cotton  gin 
increased  the  profits  of  slave  labor  marvellously, 
and  in  consequence  mightily  reinforced  southern 
sentiment  in  favor  of  perpetuating  it.  Northern 


316  John  Hancock 

States  one  after  another  followed  the  example  of 
Massachusetts  until,  on  a  question  which  eventu 
ally  would  broaden  into  a  wide  gulf  between 
the  two  sections,  the  difference  of  opinion  was 
already  beginning  to  divide  the  colonies  into 
two  groups,  and  even  communities  and  families  in 
each. 

Hancock  did  not  become  blind  to  the  evil  of 
slavery,  as  some  of  his  successors  did  through 
familiarity  with  its  sunny  side.  He  had  as  keen  a 
sense  as  some  early  southern  statesmen  had  of  the 
cancerous  germ  which  the  fathers  knew  they 
were  leaving  in  the  Constitution,  hoping  that  it 
would  disappear  with  the  growth  of  the  nation. 
Massachusetts  did  not  wait  for  it  to  die;  but  in 
Hancock's  administration  and  with  his  recommen 
dation  and  endorsement  continued  a  reform  which, 
if  it  had  been  universally  effected,  would  have 
saved  the  nation  from  the  dire  calamity  of  civil 
war  eighty  years  afterward.1 

.  In  minor  ethics  he  was  equally  conscientious, 
sometimes  surpassing  his  associates.  Notwith 
standing  the  relief  afforded  by  the  federal  govern- 

1  In  February,  1788,  three  negroes  were  decoyed  on  board  a 
vessel  in  Boston  harbor  and  carried  to  the  West  Indies,  where 
they  were  sold  into  slavery.  Subsequently,  in  consequence  of  the 
intervention  of  Governor  Hancock  and  the  French  consul  at 
Boston,  they  were  released  and  brought  back  to  Massachusetts. 
—  6  "Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Coll."  iv,  126.  Illuminating  material  on 
slaveholding  in  colonial  Boston  can  be  found  in  "Dealings  with 
the  Dead,"  i,  152,  and  in  Graham's  "Hist.  U.  S."  iv,  340. 


Last  Years  317 

ment  in  assuming  State  debts,  the  taxes  in  Massa 
chusetts  were  high,  and  with  unpaid  accumulations 
from  former  years  to  be  provided  for.  Governor 
Hancock's  policy  of  forbearance  in  the  early  eighties 
had  doubtless  saved  the  State  from  despair  if  not 
from  anarchy;  but  when  the  proposed  sale  of 
Maine  lands  for  relief  was  abandoned  as  a  failure, 
the  Legislature  consented  to  a  lottery  for  the  pur 
pose  of  raising  money  for  the  necessities  of  the  State, 
in  a  time  when  even  religious  societies  held  left 
hands  behind  them  for  aid  through  such  doubtful 
expedients.  The  Governor  wisely  and  firmly  dis 
approved  of  descending  to  enlist  gambling  methods 
for  upholding  the  credit  of  the  commonwealth, 
and  the  Legislature  soon  came  to  be  convinced  of 
the  impolicy  of  the  scheme. 

In  what  was  then  regarded  by  many  as  an  equally 
unbecoming  matter  he  displayed  even  greater  zeal; 
an  inheritance  from  a  Puritan  past,  which  one 
would  hardly  look  for  in  the  society  leader  on 
Beacon  Hill.  An  old  law  against  theatres  stood 
on  the  statute-book,  enacted  in  imitation  of  Crom 
well's  ordinance  of  1642,  annulled  in  England 
fourteen  years  later.  Yet  in  Massachusetts  players 
appeared  on  the  stage  at  the  risk  of  arrest.  In  1791 
sundry  respectable  citizens  of  Boston  made  efforts 
to  get  this  old  statute  repealed,  urging  that  it 
would  be  easy  to  select  harmless  plays  for  a  "liter 
ary  and  elegant  entertainment";  but  other  in 
habitants  of  equally  high  standing  protested.  On 


318  John  Hancock 

one  December  evening  a  "Moral  Lecture,"  en 
titled,  "The  True-born  Irishman,"  was  advertised 
to  follow  "Feats  on  the  Tight  Rope  at  the  New 
England  Exhibition  Room,  Board  Alley."  There 
was  also  a  commendable  attempt  to  introduce  the 
classic  drama  into  the  modern  Athens.  An  un 
locked  for  feature  was  presented  when  the  Sheriff 
of  Suffolk  County  unceremoniously  stepped  forth 
on  the  stage  in  the  scene  of  Bosworth  Field  in 
"Richard  the  Third"  and  made  prisoner  the  hump 
back  tyrant,  threatening  also  to  arrest  the  entire 
company  unless  the  performance  ceased  forthwith. 
Endicott  had  come  back  to  Boston.  Loud  calls 
to  proceed  with  the  play  were  useless  with  Richard 
in  the  Sheriff's  hands.  Governor  Hancock's  por 
trait  had  been  hung  in  front  of  the  stage  box, 
possibly  as  a  sop  to  Cerberus.  In  a  twinkling  it 
fell  under  the  feet  of  disappointed  playgoers,  and  the 
handsome  visage  was  disfigured  beyond  that  of  the 
original  Richard  himself.  At  the  examination 
of  this  worthy's  representative  in  Faneuil  Hall  the 
attorney-general  read  a  special  order  for  his  arrest 
from  Governor  Hancock.  Harrison  Gray  Otis 
defended  the  King,  objecting  to  the  legality  of 
the  warrant,  issued  as  it  was  without  complaint 
being  made  upon  oath.  The  justices  acceded, 
and  the  prisoner  was  discharged.  His  name  was 
Harper,  a  proto-martyr  to  the  dramatic  art; 
whose  interruption  and  detention  made  for  the 
abolition  of  an  unpopular  statute  on  the  last  day  of 


Last  Years  319 

1792.    A  building  for  stage  plays  was  soon  after 
erected  on  Federal  Street.1 

Another  law,  enacted  in  the  Puritan  age  and 
rigorously  enforced,  for  the  observance  of  the 
Lord's  Day,  was  also  revived  in  Hancock's  adminis 
tration.  War,  as  usual,  had  been  followed  by  a 
laxity  in  this  respect,  and  legislation  was  invoked 
to  restore  in  a  measure  former  strictness  of  observ 
ance.  The  new  law  was  not  so  severe  in  its 
penalties  as  the  old,  nor  in  its  provisions;  as  for 
instance,  that  there  should  be  no  osculatory  greet 
ings  in  families  on  that  day;  but  it  did  forbid 
travelling  for  business  or  pleasure,  and  all  rec 
reation.2  Perhaps  the  governor  in  approving  this 
enactment  recalled  his  own  arrest  one  Sunday  in  a 
former  year  for  taking  a  turn  on  the  Common  as  he 

1  On  October  12,  1778,  Congress  had  recommended  to  the  sev 
eral  States  "To  take  the  most  effectual  measures  for  suppressing 
theatrical  entertainments,  horse  racing,  gaming,  and  such  other 
diversions  as  are  productive  of  idleness,  dissipation,  and  a  general 
depravity  of  principles  and  manners."  —  "Journal  of  Congress," 
m,  785. 

2  Hancock  had  diversions  becoming  his  age  and  position ;    as 
when  on  the  23d  of  October,  1792,  he  attended  a  meeting  of  the 
Massachusetts  Historical  Society  to  commemorate  the  completion 
of  the  third  century  after  the  discovery  of  America,  "when  the 
memory  of  Columbus  was  toasted  in  convivial  enjoyment  at  the 
dinner  table  of  Hon.  James  Sullivan,  President."  —  "Mass.  Hist. 
Soc.  Proc.,"  i,  45,  note. 

On  Tuesday,  January  22,  1795,  sixteen  months  after  her  hus 
band's  death,  it  is  recorded  that  "Mrs.  Hancock  presented  the 
Society  with  a  Fungus  and  a  piece  of  petrified  clay." — Ib., 
p.  84. 


320  J°hn  Hancock 

was  coming  from  church.  It  was  too  late  to  bring 
back  the  Hebraic  code  of  the  preceding  century, 
and  prohibition  in  this  instance  as  in  others  did  not 
prevent  a  growing  license.  Traditional  respect  was 
stronger  than  statutes,  and  in  the  main  Sunday  was 
well  observed  for  three-quarters  of  a  century,  until  a 
greater  war  entailed  greater  looseness  of  observance, 
to  which  certain  well-known  diversions  have  con 
tributed. 

For  his  own  deliberate  and  unhasting  age  Han 
cock  had  not  led  a  sluggish  existence;  and  his 
labors  and  his  mode  of  living  together  had  been 
sapping  a  not  over-strong  constitution  before  he 
had  rounded  out  half  a  century.  He  had  not  been 
without  his  troubles  and  sorrows.  The  infant 
daughter  had  died,  as  has  been  mentioned,  in  her 
first  summer,  and  in  1787  the  son  in  his  ninth  year 
met  with  a  fatal  accident  while  skating.  Then 
there  was  always  the  customary  amount  of  political 
criticism,  to  which  Hancock  might  have  been  less 
sensitive  than  a  less  generally  approved  man, 
provided  it  were  not  as  blunt  as  this:  "J.  H.  the 
first  magistrate ;  who  is  acquainted  with  no  branch 
of  science  at  all,  not  even  government,  in  which 
he  should  have  been  fit  for  the  station  he  un 
worthily  occupies." 1  And  Rev.  Dr.  William  Gor 
don,  pastor  of  a  church  to  which  Hancock  had 
made  many  gifts,  so  sharply  criticised  his  bene- 

1  Samuel  Dexter  to  John  Temple,  in  7  "Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Proc." 
vi,  28. 


Last  Years  321 

factor  that  the  governor  gave  up  his  summer  resi 
dence  in  Jamaica  Plain.1 

Since  his  resumption  of  the  governorship  in  1788 
his  health  had  declined;  still  he  kept  up  a  brave 
fight  in  a  critical  time  for  the  principles  which 
he  deemed  vital  to  the  welfare  of  the  common 
wealth.  His  last  public  efforts  were  for  the  defence 
of  its  sovereignty,  and  his  final  appearance  as 
chief  magistrate  was  before  the  Legislature  in  the 
afternoon  of  September  18,  1793,  in  the  old  State 
House,  whither  he  was  brought,  attended  by 
Secretary  Avery  and  Sheriff  Allen.  On  taking  his 
official  chair  he  informed  the  assembly  that  his 
infirm  health  would  not  permit  him  to  address 
them  personally,  and  he  begged  them  to  be  seated 
while  the  Secretary  of  State  read  his  address,  as 
it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to  speak  so  as  to 
be  heard.  He  had  summoned  a  special  session  of 
the  General  Court  to  consider  a  suit  at  law  which 
had  been  instituted  in  the  federal  court  by  one 
Vassal,  an  alien,  against  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts.  The  Governor  and  the  attorney- 
general  as  the  principal  citizens  of  the  State  had 
received  a  summons  as  defendants.  The  first 
question  to  be  decided  was  with  regard  to  the  sua 
bility  of  a  sovereign  State.  In  his  message  the 
Governor  had  given  it  as  his  opinion  that  the 
State  could  not  be  compelled  to  answer  to  a  civil 

1  H.  M.  Whitcomb's  "Annals  and  Reminiscences  of  Jamaica 
Plain." 


322  J°hn  Hancock 

suit,  as  it  would  be  utterly  incompatible  with  its 
sovereignty.  "He  could  not  conceive,  when  the 
Constitution  was  adopted,  that  it  was  expected 
by  the  people  that  a  State  should  be  held  to  answer 
on  compulsory  civil  process  to  any  individual." 

The  subject  was  discussed  for  several  days,  when 
a  vote  was  passed,  one  hundred  and  seven  to  nine 
teen,  supporting  the  opinion  of  the  Governor,  in 
these  words  :  "Resolved,  That  a  power  claimed  of 
compelling  a  State  to  become  a  defendant  in  a  court 
of  the  United  States,  at  the  suit  of  an  individual 
or  individuals,  is  unnecessary  and  inexpedient ;  and 
in  its  exercise  dangerous  to  the  peace,  safety,  and 
independence  of  the  several  states,  and  repugnant 
to  the  first  principles  of  a  federal  government." 
The  State  delegates  in  Congress  were  instructed  to 
obtain  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  embody 
ing  the  sense  of  the  above  resolution.  In  conse 
quence,  an  article  was  soon  added  denying  the 
authority  of  the  United  States  Court  to  oblige  a 
State  to  answer  before  it  to  the  civil  suit  of  citizens 
of  another  State.  It  was  a  bold  measure,  but  in 
accord  with  the  sentiments  of  a  people  who  had 
not  fully  adopted  the  idea  of  a  national  or  consoli 
dated  government.  The  entire  action  bordered 
on  a  refusal  to  obey  its  authority  when  as  yet  an 
appeal  to  the  States  for  their  concurrence  had  not 
been  made.  State  sovereignty  was  still  in  the 
governor's  mind,  and  his  last  fight  was  for  its 
maintenance  ;  in  which  he  achieved  a  greater  success 


Last  Years  323 

for  Massachusetts  and  all  the  States  than  he  lived 
to  see. 

When  the  Secretary  had  finished  reading  the 
address  to  the  Legislature  the  Governor  added : 
"I  rely  upon  your  candor  to  pardon  this  mode 
of  addressing  you.  I  feel  the  seeds  of  mortality 
growing  fast  within  me.  But  I  think  I  have,  in 
this  case,  done  no  more  than  my  duty,  as  a  servant  of 
the  people .  I  never  did  and  I  never  will  deceive  them 
while  I  have  life  and  strength  to  act  in  their  service." 

The  assembly  arose  as  the  Governor  was  con 
veyed  to  his  carriage  and  taken  home,  never  again 
to  appear  in  public.  He  died  three  weeks  later  of 
gout  and  exhaustion,  October  8,  1793,  in  the 
fifty-seventh  year  of  his  age. 

For  a  week  citizens  from  all  parts  of  the  State 
came  by  thousands  to  pay  tributes  of  respect  to 
his  memory.  On  the  i6th  a  procession  a  mile  and 
a  half  long  followed  the  body  to  the  Granary 
Burying-ground.  A  funeral  escort  under  command 
of  Brigadier- General  Hull  consisted  of  Officers  of 
the  Militia,  Justices  of  the  Peace,  Judges  of  Pro 
bate,  the  Attorney-General,  Justices  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  members  of  the  Legislature  and  Council, 
and  the  Lieutenant-governor.  Six  of  the  oldest 
Councillors  were  the  pall-bearers.  After  these 
followed  relatives,  the  Vice-President  of  the 
United  States,  and  members  of  Congress;  Judges 
and  Secretaries,  former  Councillors  and  Senators 
of  Massachusetts ;  the  President,  Corporation,  and 


324  J°hn  Hancock 

Professors  of  Harvard  College;  Selectmen  and 
Town  Clerk  of  Boston,  with  other  town  officers ; 
Clergymen,  members  of  the  Ancient  and  Honorable 
Artillery  Company,  a  Committee  of  the  Brattle 
Street  Church,  of  which  the  deceased  had  been  a 
member.  Citizens  and  visitors  completed  the 
procession,  which  moved  from  "the  Mansion  House 
of  the  late  Governor,  across  the  Common  and  down 
Frog  Lane  [now  Boylston  Street]  to  Liberty  Pole, 
through  the  Main  Street,  and  round  the  State 
House,  up  Court  Street  —  and  from  thence  to  the 
place  of  interment." 

A  conspicuous  person  in  this  procession  was 
Samuel  Adams,  who  was  obliged  to  withdraw  from 
it  at  State  Street  on  account  of  failing  strength. 
When  the  General  Court  assembled  in  the  following 
January  he  opened  his  address  as  Lieutenant- 
governor  with  these  words :  — 

"It  having  pleased  the  Supreme  Being,  since  your  last 
meeting,  in  his  holy  Providence  to  remove  from  this  transi 
tory  life  our  late  excellent  Governor  Hancock,  the  multi 
tude  of  his  surviving  fellow-citizens,  who  have  often  given 
strong  testimonials  of  their  approbation  of  his  important 
services,  while  they  drop  a  tear,  may  certainly  profit  by  the 
recollection  of  his  virtuous  and  patriotic  example." 

With  this  moderate  eulogy  he  proceeded  to  the 
affairs  before  the  Legislature. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Thacher,  Hancock's  pastor, 
preached  a  sermon  with  fuller  appreciation  on  the 
29th  of  October  in  the  Brattle  Street  Church,  three 


Last  Years  325 

weeks  after  the  Governor's  death.  It  has  peculiar 
value  as  testimony  to  the  character  of  the  sub 
ject,  coming  as  it  did  from  ah  intimate  associate 
in  the  affairs  of  the  parish  and  the  town  and  based 
upon  general  opinion  as  well  as  his  own.  After 
the  custom  of  the  time,  and  as  in  his  memorial 
discourses  in  the  instances  of  Governors  Bowdoin 
and  Samuel  Adams,  the  sermon  is  so  long  as  to 
forbid  entire  quotation.  Disconnected  sentences 
must  stand  for  the  sentiments  of  the  whole. 

"It  is  difficult  to  draw  the  character  of  a  man  in  a  station 
so  elevated  without  being  charged  with  partiality,  and 
with  a  disposition  to  flatter  the  dead,  or  gratify  the  living. 
But  think  not  that  I  shall  attempt  to  describe  this  great 
man  as  a  character  absolutely  perfect,  for  perfection  is 
not  the  lot  of  humanity,  and  to  ascribe  it  to  the  best  of 
men  must  prove  a  want  of  sincerity  or  knowledge.  Let  his 
failings,  for  which  charity  will  furnish  many  apologies, 
be  buried  with  him. 

"Governor  Hancock  was  formed  by  nature  to  act  a 
brilliant  part  in  the  world.  His  abilities  were  of  the  kind 
which  strike,  astonish  and  please.  They  were  highly 
respectable,  and  were  cultivated  by  education,  travel,  and 
the  conversation  of  safe  and  good  men.  Coming  into 
possession  of  a  fortune  superior  to  any  which  our  part 
of  America  had  then  known,  his  friends  viewed  him  with 
anxiety;  they  feared  that  he  would  be  drawn  into  the 
vortex  of  dissipation.  They  were  pleased  when  they 
found  him  taking  a  different  turn,  wishing  to  acquire  the 
esteem  and  confidence  of  men  of  character,  and  appearing 
as  the  friend  and  asserter  of  the  liberties  of  his  country. 
His  patriotism  and  his  amiable  popular  manners  rendered 
him  the  idol  of  his  fellow  citizens ;  they  loved  his  very 


326  John  Hancock 


name  and  early  showered  upon  him  their  best  honors. 
No  man  before  him  ever  possessed  such  a  command  of 
their  affections.  They  loved  him  because  he  espoused 
their  cause  and  aimed  at  their  interest.  His  name  and  influ 
ence  were  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  common  cause. 

"He  was  eloquent  and  spoke  with  ease  and  propriety; 
his  manners  were  graceful,  and  he  had  a  peculiar  talent 
of  presiding  with  dignity  at  the  head  of  a  deliberative 
body :  every  individual  supposed  himself  to  be  particularly 
noticed  and  favored.  When  at  his  own  request  he  was 
released  from  the  fatigues  of  Congress  he  was  received 
with  former  affection  and  experienced  former  confidence 
by  the  people  of  Massachussetts  when  they  called  him  to 
be  the  first  Governor  under  our  present  constitution.  Such 
distinction  is  seldom  placed  in  the  same  man,  but  Mr. 
Hancock  never  lost  the  popular  affection.  He  was  also 
a  firm  friend  to  the  independence  and  happiness  of  united 
America.  He  gave  his  decided  influence  in  favor  of  the 
federal  constitution,  and  did  then  perhaps  as  much  service 
to  his  country  as  when  he  consented  to  its  independence. 

"To  this  may  be  added  his  munificence.  Perhaps  there 
is  not  a  person  in  America  who  has  done  more  generous 
and  noble  actions  or  contributed  more  liberally  to  public 
institutions.  His  acts  of  charity  of  a  more  private  nature 
were  numerous  and  constant.  The  poor,  the  widow,  the 
fatherless,  the  unhappy  debtor,  the  prisoner,  the  decayed 
gentleman,  all  experienced  his  bounty.  The  sums  which 
he  gave  away  would  scarcely  be  credited. 

"His  reverence  for  religion  was  never  lost.  He  was 
interested  in  every  thing  that  related  to  the  house  of  God. 
He  exceeded  his  worthy  ancestors  in  his  liberality  to  this 
society  and  proved  his  real  attachment  to  our  peace  and 
happiness.  It  might  have  been  said  of  him  as  of  the  cen 
turion  by  the  Jews,  '  He  loved  our  nation  and  hath  built  us 
a  synagogue.'" 


Last  Years  327 

It  is  on  record  that  the  expenses  of  the  governor's 
funeral  were  not  paid  by  the  State  but  from  the 
estate  of  the  chief  magistrate  himself,  who,  un 
like  the  Commonwealth,  was  not  burdened  with 
debts,  although  his  fortune  had  been  greatly 
impaired  by  the  stringency  of  the  time.1 

One  hundred  years  after  his  death  the  Legisla 
ture  of  Massachusetts  on  February  3,  1894,  coming 
to  a  sense  of  the  obscurity  in  which  John  Hancock 
had  lain  for  a  century,  passed  this  resolution :  — 

"Resolved,  that  there  be  allowed  and  paid  out  of  the 
treasury  of  the  Commonwealth  a  sum  not  exceeding  three 
thousand  dollars,  to  be  expended  under  the  direction  of 
the  Governor  and  Council,  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a 
suitable  memorial  over  the  grave  of  Gov.  John  Hancock 
in  the  Granary  Burying-ground  in  Boston." 

When  the  monument  was  placed  a  service  of 
dedication  was  held  on  September  10,  1896 :  the 
shaft  being  unveiled  by  a  great-grand-niece,  Miss 

1U  Shabby  Commonwealth!!  thus  early  in  your  career  you 
exemplified  the  old  saying,  that  the  State  can  do  no  wrong,  and 
that  the  dead  have  no  rights  that  the  living  are  bound  to  respect. 
You  took  advantage  of  Madam's  lack  of  business  experience  and 
training,  and  defrauded  her  of  the  funeral  expenses,  amounting  to 
eighteen  hundred  dollars,  in  a  manner  that,  however  pleasing  to 
King  George  the  Third,  he  would  not  have  been  guilty  of,  and  your 
example  would  have  made  even  Becky  Sharp  turn  green  with 
envy."  —  Joseph  Henry  Curtis's  "Life  of  Campestris  Ulm,"  p.  37. 
A  charge  of  vandalism  was  brought  against  Massachusetts  for 
the  destruction  of  the  Hancock  mansion  in  1863  after  a  failure  to 
purchase  it  in  1859,  or  to  accept  it  later  when  offered  to  Boston  as 
a  gift.  See  the  "Bulletin  of  the  Society  for  the  Preservation  of 
N.  E.  Antiquities,"  May,  1910. 


328  John  Hancock 

Mary  Elizabeth  Wood,  as  there  was  no  direct 
descendant  of  John  Hancock.  On  account  of  the  rain 
that  afternoon  the  service  was  continued  in  the  Park 
Street  Church,  at  which  Governor  Wolcott  said :  — 

"It  has  long  been  a  matter  of  comment,  and  possibly 
of  regret  to  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  that  the 
grave  of  her  first  governor,  a  man  who  played  so  large  a 
part  in  the  Revolutionary  period,  remained  in  the  heart 
of  the  principal  city  of  the  Commonwealth  unmarked  by 
any  enduring  monument.1 

"It  will  be  one  of  those  spots  to  which  the  feet  of  pilgrims 
will  be  directed.  It  will  be  one  of  the  memories  which  those 
who  visit  us  from  other  States  or  other  countries  will  bear 
away  with  them  from  historic  Boston  and  historic  Massa 
chusetts,  and  as  the  hurrying  crowd  passes  by  the  side 
walk,  I  hope  that  it  will  speak  eloquently  for  all  years  to 
come  of  patriotic  and  loyal  service  to  the  Commonwealth." 

In  his  speech  accepting  the  monument  in  behalf 
of  the  State  he  said :  — 

"As  we  look  back  upon  that  period  of  the  revolution, 
to  the  events  that  led  up  to  it,  there  is  one  figure,  among 
others,  that  stands  with  peculiar  significance  to  the  public 
mind.  That  figure  is  John  Hancock.  A  man  of  dignity 
of  presence,  fond  of  elaborate  ceremonial,  elegant  in  his 
attire,  courtly  in  his  manner,  a  man  of  education  and  great 
wealth  for  that  time,  and  a  man  who  threw  himself  heart 
and  soul  into  the  patriotic  duties  of  the  hour.  I  think  we 
especially  connect  his  name  and  memory  with  three  acts. 
In  the  first  place,  we  remember  that  in  the  proclamation 
of  amnesty  there  were  two  names  excepted;  one  was  that 
of  John  Hancock,  the  other  that  of  Samuel  Adams.  We 

1  "No.  16,  Tomb  of  Hancock,"  was  all  that  marked  the  patriot's 
resting  place  for  a  century. 


Last  Years  329 

remember  that  when  Paul  Revere  rode  out  into  Middlesex 
County  to  warn  the  farmers  of  the  approach  of  British 
troops,  John  Hancock  and  Samuel  Adams  were  slumbering 
quietly  in  the  little  village  of  Lexington,  and  that  their  cap 
ture  was  accounted  as  important  to  the  British  cause  as 
the  capture  or  destruction  of  the  ammunition  which  they 
were  sent  out  to  seize. 

"  We  especially  remember  John  Hancock  again  as  presi 
dent  of  the  Continental  Congress,  and  as  the  first  to  sign,  in 
his  bold,  fine  signature,  his  name  to  that  immortal  declara 
tion,  in  which  those  who  signed  it  pledged  their  lives,  their 
fortunes,  and  their  sacred  honor  to  the  cause  of  liberty." 

Of  Mrs.  Hancock  it  remains  to  be  said  that 
on  July  28,  1796,  she  married  Captain  James 
Scott,  who  was  a  trusted  ship-master  long  in  the 
employ  of  her  first  husband.  She  outlived  the 
second  many  years,  residing  for  a  time  at  Ports 
mouth,  New  Hampshire,  and  afterward  at  No.  4 
Federal  Street,  Boston,  where  her  hospitality  was 
enlivened  by  her  remarkable  memory  and  bril 
liant  conversation.  When  Lafayette  was  in  the 
country  in  1825  they  recalled  together  the  scenes 
of  fifty  years  before,  when  in  younger  days  they 
could  not  foresee  the  fulfilment  of  their  hopes. 
She  could  recollect  the  personal  appearance  and 
manners  of  British  officers  quartered  in  Boston, 
of  whom  Earl  Percy  seems  to  have  made  the  most 
favorable  impression,  since,  accustomed  to  the 
luxuries  of  Warkworth  Castle,  his  Northumber 
land  home,  he  slept  among  his  troops  in  a  tent 
on  the  Common  during  the  winter  of  1774-5, 


330  J°hn  Hancock 

and  drilled  the  regulars  at  dawn  not  far  from  the 
Hancock  mansion.1  He  did  not  advance  far 
enough  toward  Lexington  on  the  next  igth  of 
April,  when  he  covered  the  disastrous  retreat,  for 
Dorothy  Quincy  to  catch  one  more  glimpse  of 
him  before  she  was  withdrawn  from  all  further 
visual  admiration  of  the  fascinating  Earl  to  Con 
necticut  Fairfield  and  the  equally  attractive  Aaron 
Burr.  It  is  not  strange  that  Hancock  had  his 
hours  of  solicitude  in  his  lodgings  at  Philadelphia 
until  the  August  wedding-day.  On  her  part  it 
seems  to  have  been  an  instance  of  love  after 
marriage.  When  in  old  age  she  was  compli 
mented  on  her  good  looks,  she  would  laughingly 
reply,  "What  you  say  is  more  than  half  a  hun 
dred  years  old.  My  ears  remember  it ;  but  what 
were  dimples  once  are  wrinkles  now."  To  the  end 
however,  she  was  as  attentive  to  her  attire  as  in 
early  years,  and  had  no  patience  with  a  young  girl 
who  did  not  dress  to  please,  nor  with  one  who  was 
vain  of  her  clothes.  Madam  Scott  died  in  Boston 
on  February  3,  1830,  in  her  eighty-fourth  year.2 

1  It  has  been  said  that  Mrs.  Hancock  extended  courtesies  to 
the  officers'  ladies  of  Burgoyne's  army  at  Cambridge  after  its 
defeat,  and  that  these  attentions  were  gratefully  received  and 
long  remembered. —  Loring's  "Hundred  Orators,"  p.  107. 

For  social  amenities  at  the  Hancock  mansion  see  the  "  Trans 
actions  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Mass.,"  vi,  317. 

2  Reminiscences  of  her  life  with  her  first  husband,  John  Hancock, 
were  given  in  1822  to  General  William  H.  Sumnerand  were  pub 
lished  by  him  in  the  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical 
Register  for  April,  1854,  vol.  vin,  187. 


CHAPTER  XX 

AN  ESTIMATE 

IN  asking  what  place  John  Hancock  occupied 
in  his  day,  and  what  values  he  represents  in  Ameri 
can  history,  two  factors  must  be  considered  which 
determine  the  character,  conduct,  and  achieve 
ment  of  men  of  distinction  who  are  not  geniuses, 
and  therefore  to  be  accounted  for  by  their  heredity 
and  environment. 

Whatever  value  is  attached  to  the  doctrine  of 
heredity,  it  will  be  allowed  that  inheritances  of 
disposition  from  progenitors  are  a  large  part  of 
the  capital  with  which  a  child  starts  in  life.  In 
this  instance  a  reputed  descent  from  remote  an 
cestors  in  Ireland  has  been  claimed,  and  the 
possible  persistence  of  sundry  Celtic  traits  is  illus 
trated  by  well-known  characteristics.  These,  how 
ever,  had  lived  on  amidst  the  chilly  influences  of 
the  Puritan  age  until  they  were  stiffened  into 
habits  and  principles  unlike  their  original  form  and 
spirit.  A  love  of  leadership,  for  instance,  had 
hardened  into  a  grandfather's  dominating  temper, 
to  be  softened  in  the  grandson  into  a  harmless 
desire  to  be  foremost  in  the  procession,  with  the 


332  J°hn  Hancock 

notoriety  which  that  kind  of  precedence  bestows. 
Sometimes  the  professional  accretion  of  an  over 
lord  spirit  from  the  period  of  a  magisterial  ministry 
cropped  out  when  circumstances  favored,  but 
there  was  no  desperate  fight  to  win  and  keep 
preeminence,  such  as  Samuel  Adams  maintained 
until  his  main  purpose  was  accomplished.  Still, 
Hancock  had  no  faculty  of  keeping  in  the  back 
ground,  such  as  the  retiring  but  able  Hawley  had ; 
a  man  who  would  have  outrun  all  radicals  if  a 
native  modesty  and  a  singular  disposition  had  not 
marred  his  efficiency.  No  self-depreciation  re 
strained  Hancock  when  his  services  or  presence 
were  needed.  If  modesty  is  a  fault,  as  some  hold, 
he  was  blameless  in  that  respect.  If  generous 
appreciation  of  one's  self  is  a  helpful  quality  in  the 
daily  struggle,  he  found  this  gift  a  sustaining  power 
in  a  time  when  every  ally  was  needed.  Confidence 
in  himself  gave  him  good  hope  for  the  cause  which 
had  him  for  one  of  its  foremost  champions.  Be 
cause  he  himself  had  espoused  it,  there  was  no 
question  in  his  mind  of  its  worthiness.  The  right 
would  prevail  eventually,  and  no  later  on  account 
of  his  own  attitude  towards  it.  Such  conscious 
ness  affords  great  comfort  to  its  possessor,  and 
moreover  radiates  abundant  cheer  in  a  time  when 
uncertainty  and  doubt,  misgiving  and  fear  pre 
vail.  Courage,  determination,  and  zeal  accom 
plish  wonders;  but  an  added  assurance  and  a 
confident  front  are  often  the  stay  of  those  who 


An  Estimate  333 

look  to  their  leaders  to  do  their  thinking,  and  to 
their  watchmen  to  tell  them  of  the  night  and  of  the 
morning.  If  half  the  victory  is  in  believing  that 
it  can  be  won,  there  is  always  some  one  to  win  the 
other  half. 

But  Hancock  was  not  all  conceit.  It  is  the 
habit  of  his  detractors  to  put  uppermost  this 
amusing,  but  harmless  and  sometimes  useful,  de 
fect,  thus  overclouding  his  sterling  qualities.  Be 
cause  he  was  vain,  he  could  therefore  be  nothing 
else,  is  poor  logic.  As  well  say,  because  he  was 
handsome  he  had  no  courage,  generosity,  and 
sympathy:  or  because  he  loved  official  station 
therefore  he  was  not  an  admirable  occupant  of 
it.  Let  his  well-known  kindness  to  the  poor  and 
his  benevolence  to  the  public  refute  the  first  sup 
position,  and  repeated  re-elections  deny  the  second. 
Instead,  his  generous  gifts  overbalanced  what 
ever  publicity  they  unavoidably  gained  in  a  time 
when  the  left  hand  could  not  fail  to  know  what  the 
right  hand  did,  especially  when  both  were  extended 
in  benefaction.  To  the  hundred  thousand  dollars 
which  it  is  estimated  he  contributed  or  sacrificed 
to  the  cause  of  liberty,  might  be  added  an  unstinted 
hospitality  toward  all  classes  in  several  ways,  often 
in  the  name  and  to  the  honor  of  the  town  of  which 
he  was  a  citizen.  To  the  churches  he  was  equally 
well  disposed,  as  in  the  gift  of  a  thousand  pounds 
sterling  to  the  building  of  the  Brattle  Street  Church, 
of  which  he  was  a  member,  with  the  addition  of 


334  J°hn  Hancock 

pulpit  furniture  and  a  bell ;  also  of  similar  gifts  at 
Jamaica  Plain,  his  summer  resort.  To  the  poor 
he  gave  freely,  especially  in  a  time  of  distress 
when  want  was  at  every  door  where  there  was  not 
a  competence  within. 

His  patriotism  is  so  often  assumed  to  be  a  matter 
of  course,  and  as  something  which  should  belong 
to  all  Americans,  that  it  is  not  always  remembered 
what  an  unusual  and  exceptional  occurrence  it  was 
for  a  prominent  citizen  of  Boston  to  join  the  move 
ment  against  the  established  government  in  the 
beginning  of  the  revolt.  Its  early  promoters  from 
the  docks,  shops,  and  shipyards,  who  had  not  much 
to  lose,  did  not  attract  many  substantial  merchants, 
salaried  judges,  and  government  officials  who  were 
content  to  let  well-enough  alone,  and  who  consid 
ered  the  outcome  as  exceedingly  uncertain  long 
after  the  war  broke  out.  Nor  does  it  so  much  mat 
ter  by  what  persuasions  Hancock  was  induced  to 
throw  himself  into  the  movement  at  first  as  that 
he  did  it  in  the  face  of  considerations  which  kept 
most  of  his  circle  out  of  it  at  the  time.  If  no  aris 
tocrat  had  joined  the  laboring  classes  whose  ma 
jorities  Samuel  Adams  was  swelling  by  speeches, 
newspaper  articles,  and  oftener  by  personal  talk, 
the  cause  would  have  received  tardier  support. 
The  surprise  of  great  houses  on  the  hillsides  and 
of  their  heads  at  the  Royal  Exchange  must  have 
been  genuine  when  the  richest  man  of  them  all 
broke  away  from  the  ingrained  and  inherited  loy- 


An  Estimate  335 

alty  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  to  join  the  dis 
contented  rabble,  always  ready  for  any  change, 
and  easily  led  by  the  man  who  dares,  having  only 
his  voice  to  contribute  to  the  cause.  Hancock 
and  his  neighbors  had  warehouses  and  foreign 
trade,  respectability  and  social  standing,  with  the 
stability  and  prosperity  of  the  existing  order,  and 
the  conservatism  natural  to  the  English  race,  with 
its  divine  right  of  grumbling  at  present  evils  and 
its  dogged  pertinacity  in  keeping  them  sacred  up 
to  the  point  of  explosion.  The  best  in  Boston  did 
not  admit  that  they  had  reached  that  point  even 
after  Gage  invested  the  town.  Those  who  have 
a  century  and  a  third  of  independence  behind  them 
cannot  easily  understand  such  devotion  to  British 
authority  in  all  matters ;  but  they  who  had  a  cen 
tury  and  a  half  of  home  government  back  of  them, 
and  a  thousand  years  of  its  traditions  beyond  that, 
could  not  comprehend  that  the  untried  new  would 
be  better  than  the  old  with  all  the  faults  they  had 
condoned  or  been  half  proud  of.  The  new  king 
was  arbitrary  without  doubt,  but  his  best  men  were 
not ;  and  they  were  slowly  warping  the  Hano 
verian  hulk  into  the  current  again.  If  British 
generals  and  admirals  would  show  pluck  enough 
to  suppress  rope-spinners,  ship  carpenters,  and 
shopmen,  and  have  wit  enough  to  catch  Sam 
Adams,  and  get  Hancock  made  a  peer  of  the  realm, 
time  and  mortality  would  adjust  all  temporary 
ills,  and  prosperity  would  return  with  ships  from 


336  J°hn  Hancock 

every  port.  So  reasoned  the  aristocrats  of  Bos 
ton. 

Hancock's  defection  from  the  coterie  of  merchant 
princes  and  their  policy  was  unaccountable  to 
them.  What  could  radical  rebels  promise  him 
besides  the  companionship  that  misery  loves? 
This  was  the  talk  of  the  majority  in  the  lordly 
mansions  which  looked  out  on  the  harbor  from  the 
garden  slopes  that  faced  it.  Hancock  himself  had 
been  familiar  with  loyal  sentiments  in  his  uncle's 
house.  Was  he  so  distressed  by  imposts  and  navi 
gation  acts  beyond  all  others  that  he  would  better 
his  trade  by  rebellion ;  for  it  was  to  secure  com 
mercial  justice  rather  than  freedom  which  started 
the  revolution. 

It  is  commonly  said  that  Sam  Adams  held  up 
before  him  such  likelihood  of  preferment  in  the 
new  order  that  Hancock  was  induced  to  risk  every 
thing  for  its  rewards.  This  supposition  became 
more  plausible  after  these  emoluments  had  been 
bestowed  upon  him  than  it  was  in  the  year  when 
Adams  is  said  to  have  pictured  an  attractive  fu 
ture  for  a  man  whose  prominence  would  lend  as 
sistance  to  the  cause.  If  Hancock  had  political 
ambitions  Governor  Hutchinson  could  have  pointed 
out  a  shorter  road  to  distinction,  and  a  much  surer 
and  safer  one.  What  had  Adams  to  promise  in 
1775  beyond  the  chairmanship  of  a  radical  club,  and 
later  of  a  disputing  legislature,  and  a  discordant 
Congress?  These  honors  were  the  best  the  coun- 


An  Estimate  337 

try  could  bestow,  to  be  sure,  after  the  command  of 
its  troops;  but  John  Hancock  was  too  wise  a 
tradesman  to  sell  his  commercial  interests,  his 
fortune,  and  his  favor  at  court  for  these  uncertain 
compensations  alone. 

Suppose  that  his  course  be  matched  to  another 
theory :  that  having  seen  the  condition  of  the  mid 
dle  and  lower  classes  in  England  under  a  limited 
monarchy,  and  being  sensible  of  the  contrast  be 
tween  the  freedom  of  American  colonists  and  the 
subjection  of  home-born  Britons,  he  should  re 
sent  encroachments  upon  long-enjoyed  privileges, 
fearing  their  diminution  and  any  approach  to  the 
conditions  in  which  the  English  commonalty  passed 
its  stolid  existence.  Moreover,  he  might  equally 
deplore  an  arbitrary  assertion  of  the  right  to  lay 
burdens  upon  colonials  which  had  not  been  im 
posed  hitherto,  and  to  depreciate  the  compensatory 
privilege  of  indirect  representation  in  the  legisla 
tive  body,  unlike  that  direct  method  to  which  the 
colonies  had  been  accustomed.  There  were  also 
under  the  general  charge  of  unfairness  and  despotic 
treatment  specific  allegations,  such  as  were  after 
ward  incorporated  in  the  Preamble  to  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence.  In  an  historical  novel  * 
relating  to  the  revolutionary  period,  the  writer 
has  placed  the  statement  of  these  grievances  to 
the  credit  of  Hancock  rather  than  of  Adams  or  any 
other  precursor  of  Jefferson.  A  little  of  the  con- 

1  "  Cardigan  "  by  Robert  W.  Chambers.    N.  Y.,  1902,  p.  384. 


338  J°hn  Hancock 

text  may  help  illumine  a  feature  of  political  club 
doings  in  Boston  town  in  uneasy  times.  The 
title  hero,  "Cardigan,"  is  present  at  the  "Wild 
Goose  Club"  of  minute-men  captains  when:  — 

"A  fashionably  dressed  young  man  approached  our 
table.  His  style  of  dress  was  not  to  my  taste  —  an  apple- 
green  coat,  white  silk  stockings,  silver  buckles,  and  much 
expensive  lace  at  his  throat  and  cuffs.  .  .  .  Everybody 
had  now  taken  chairs  and  formed  a  semi-circle  around 
Mr.  Hancock,  who  leaned  against  the  great  centre  table 
and  said :  — 

"  '  I  am  here  to  submit  to  you  a  list  of  crimes  against  our 
colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  committed  or  contemplated 
by  the  King  of  England.  He  refuses  his  assent  to  laws  and 
measures  for  the  public  good;  forbids  the  passage  of  laws 
unless  suspended  in  their  operation  till  his  assent  be  ob 
tained;  calls  together  legislative  bodies  at  unusual  places 
to  discourage  attendance;  dissolves  assemblies  for  opposing 
his  invasion  of  people's  rights  and  obstructs  the  administra 
tion  of  justice;  makes  judges  dependent  upon  his  will  alone 
for  tenure  of  office  and  salaries;  creates  new  offices  to  be 
filled  by  his  appointments;  keeps  a  standing  army  here 
in  time  of  peace  independent  of  civil  power;  protects  its 
troops  from  punishment  for  murder;  cuts  off  our  trade  with 
the  whole  world;  taxes  us  without  our  consent;  deprives  us 
of  trial  by  jury;  transports  us  for  trial;  takes  away  our 
charters,  abolishes  our  laws,  and  suspends  our  legislatures.' 

"Hancock  looked  up,  holding  the  paper  unrolled.  'Why/ 
he  said  lightly,  '  this  is  no  king,  but  Caesar  among  his  pre- 
torians.'  .  .  .  Then  with  brief  inclination  he  turned  and 
left  the  room. 

"It  was  not  an  orator's  effort  that  Hancock  had  accom 
plished;  it  was  a  mere  statement  of  the  truth;  yet  so  skil 
fully  timed  and  so  dramatic  in  execution  that  it  was  worth 


An  Estimate  339 

months  of  oratory  before  the  vast  audiences  of  Faneuil 
Hall." 

The  author  of  this  imaginary  scene  warns  readers 
in  his  preface  against  taking  the  novel  for  history; 
yet  like  good  fiction  of  the  kind  it  is  as  valuable 
for  illustration  as  some  histories  that  have  been 
written.  His  portrait  of  Hancock  is  as  charac 
teristic  as  some  that  have  been  made  of  him  in 
colors.  The  charges  against  the  king,  which  the 
author  puts  into  the  patriot's  mouth,  such  as  Jef 
ferson  afterward  penned,  were  commonplaces  of 
daily  utterance,  and  were  more  likely  to  be  spoken 
by  Hancock  and  Adams  than  any  other  leading 
citizens  of  Boston,  Otis  perhaps  excepted.  They 
were  allegations  which  ought  to  have  moved  all 
the  aristocrats  of  the  town  to  follow  the  chief  of 
them  in  revolt  against  the  stubborn  tyranny  of 
George  the  Third. 

To  this  portraiture  by  the  novelist  the  following 
personal  note  by  a  contemporary  may  be  added :  — 

"  He  will  be  considered  in  the  history  of  our  country  as  one 
of  the  greatest  men  of  his  age.  How  true  this  may  be,  dis 
tant  generations  are  not  likely  to  know.  He  was  sent  as 
a  delegate  to  Congress  in  1774;  and  in  consequence  of  his 
personal  deportment,  and  his  fame  as  a  patriot,  he  was  ele 
vated,  in  an  assembly  of  eminent  men,  to  the  dignity  of 
President,  which  office  he  held  when  the  Declaration  was 
signed,  at  which  time  he  was  only  thirty-nine  years  of  age. 

"In  June,  1782,  Hancock  had  the  appearance  of  advanced 
age,  though  only  forty-five.  He  had  been  repeatedly  and 
severely  afflicted  with  the  gout,  a  disease  much  more  common 


340  John  Hancock 

in  those  days  than  it  now  is,  while  dyspepsia,  if  it  existed  at 
all,  was  not  known  by  that  name.  As  recollected,  at  this 
time,  Mr.  Hancock  was  nearly  six  feet  in  stature,  and  of 
slender  person,  stooping  a  little,  and  apparently  enfeebled 
by  disease.  His  manners  were  very  gracious,  of  the  old 
style  of  dignified  complaisance.  His  face  had  been  very 
handsome.  Dress  was  adapted  quite  as  much  to  be  orna 
mental  as  useful.  Gentlemen  wore  wigs  when  abroad,  and, 
commonly,  caps  when  at  home.  At  this  time  (June,  1782) 
about  noon,  Hancock  was  dressed  in  a  red  velvet  cap, 
within  which  was  one  of  fine  linen.  The  latter  was  turned 
up  over  the  lower  edge  of  the  velvet  one,  two  or  three  inches. 
He  wore  a  blue  damask  gown,  lined  with  silk;  a  white 
stock,  a  white  satin  embroidered  waistcoat,  black  satin 
small  clothes,  white  silk  stockings,  and  red  morocco  slippers. 
It  was  a  general  practice  in  genteel  families  to  have  a 
tankard  of  punch  made  in  the  morning,  and  placed  in  a 
cooler  when  the  season  required  it.  Visitors  were  invited 
to  partake  of  it.  At  this  visit,  Hancock  took  from  the 
cooler,  standing  on  the  hearth,  a  full  tankard,  and  drank 
first  himself,  and  then  offered  it  to  those  present.  Hancock 
was  hospitable.  There  might  have  been  seen  at  his  table 
all  classes,  from  grave  and  dignified  clergymen,  down  to  the 
gifted  in  song,  narration,  anecdote  and  wit,  with  whom  'noise 
less  falls  the  foot  of  Time,  that  only  treads  on  flowers.' 

"Though  Hancock  was  very  wealthy,  he  was  too  much 
occupied  with  public  affairs  to  be  advantageously  attentive 
to  his  private.  The  times  in  which  he  lived,  and  the  dis 
tinguished  agency  which  fell  to  his  lot,  from  his  sincere  and 
ardent  devotion  to  the  patriot  cause,  engendered  a  strong 
self  regard.  He  was  said  to  be  somewhat  sensitive,  easily 
offended,  and  very  uneasy  in  the  absence  of  the  high  con 
sideration  which  he  claimed,  rather  as  a  right  than  a  courtesy. 
He  had  strong  personal  friends,  and  equally  strong  personal 
enemies.  From  such  causes  arose  some  irritating  difficulties. 


An  Estimate  341 

He  had  not  only  a  commanding  deportment,  which  he  could 
qualify  with  a  most  attractive  amenity,  but  a  fine  voice, 
and  a  highly  graceful  manner.  These  were  traits  which 
distinguished  him  from  most  men,  and  qualified  him  to 
preside  in  popular  assemblies  with  great  dignity.  He  was 
not  supposed  to  be  a  man  of  great  intellectual  force  by 
nature;  and  his  early  engagements  in  political  life,  and  as 
the  scenes  in  which  he  was  conversant  called  for  the  exercise 
of  his  powers  only  in  the  public  service,  he  was  so  placed 
as  not  to  have  had  occasion  to  display  the  force  of  his  mind, 
in  that  service,  so  as  to  enable  those  of  the  present  day  to 
judge  of  it,  excepting  in  his  communications,  as  Governor 
of  Massachusetts,  to  the  Legislature. 

"If  history  has  any  proper  concern  with  the  individual 
qualities  of  Hancock,  it  may  be  doubtful  whether,  in  these 
respects,  distant  generations  will  know  exactly  what  manner 
of  man  he  was.  But,  as  a  public  man,  his  country  is  greatly 
indebted  to  him.  He  was  most  faithfully  devoted  to  her 
cause,  and  it  is  a  high  eulogy  on  his  patriotism,  that  when 
the  British  Government  offered  pardon  to  all  the  rebels, 
for  all  their  offenses,  Hancock  and  Samuel  Adams  were  the 
only  persons  to  whom  this  grace  was  denied."  * 

Suppose  that  Hancock  had  been  one  of  the  small 
shopkeepers  on  the  side  streets  of  the  town,  per 
haps  as  unsuccessful  in  business  as  Samuel  Adams 
was,  but  had  felt  the  injustice  of  British  rule,  as 
some  Britons  saw  it;  and  that  he  had  joined  in 
the  early  remonstrances  against  it,  no  charge  of 
what  he  was  likely  to  gain  would  have  been  urged 
to  account  for  his  patriotism.  It  is  possible  that 

1  Sullivan's  "Familiar  Letters  on  Public  Characters,"  —  Han 
cock.  See  also  Graydon's  "Memoirs  of  His  Own  Times,"  Appen 
dix  D,  p.  425. 


342  J°hn  Hancock 

he  could  discern  the  evils  of  the  time  as  clearly  as 
the  wayside  tradesman  who  had  little  to  lose,  and 
that  his  regard  for  the  general  profit  under  a  popu 
lar  government  would  be  as  great  as  a  grocer's  or  a 
cobbler's.  His  large  business  and  great  wealth 
naturally  stood  in  the  way  of  revolutionary  ideas, 
with  their  inevitable  disturbance  of  trade  and 
finance  and  the  worse  conditions  which  might 
follow  colonial  failure  in  a  doubtful  contest. 
It  is,  therefore,  to  his  greater  credit  that,  despite 
naturally  opposing  considerations,  he  was  willing  ( 
to  risk  everything  for  the  possibility  of  the  country's 
freedom  to  work  out  its  own  prosperity  amidst  its 
abundant  resources.  It  would  be  easier  for  a 
biographer  to  place  Hancock  where  he  deservedly 
belongs  if  he  could  say  that  he  was  not  rich  or 
ostentatious  or  vain.  On  the  other  hand,  if  these 
qualifications  to  perfection  made  it  hard  for  his 
class  to  enter  into  the  new  kingdom,  additional 
esteem  should  be  awarded  a  man  who  could  ally 
himself  with  a  doubtful  but  noble  cause  which 
promised  more  for  future  generations  than  his  own. 
If  the  possibility  of  patriotism  existing  together 
with  wealth  and  social  position  be  looked  for,  and 
in  spite  of  the  probable  loss  of  such  advantages, 
abundant  examples  can  be  found  in  the  history  of 
the  nation.  In  Boston,  one  instance  in  particular 
will  occur  to  those  who  recall  what  Wendell 
Phillips  sacrificed  to  the  "little  band  of  nobodies" 
at  the  outset  of  the  crusade  against  an  evil  which 


An  Estimate  343 

early  statesmen  deplored,  but  failed  to  extirpate 
from  the  Constitution  and  the  Nation.1  From 
time  to  time  there  will  be  men  whose  sense  of  wrong 
and  vision  of  right  will  be  greater  than  of  the 
chance  surroundings  of  wealth  or  the  uncertain 
prospect  of  ambitions  as  doubtful  as  were  those  of 
any  conspicuous  patriot  before  the  surrender  of 
Cornwallis  at  Yorktown.  Comparatively  great  as 
were  the  rewards  which  were  thrust  upon  the  man 
who  of  all  revolutionists  had  the  most  to  lose,  the  com 
pensation  did  not  equal  what  he  risked,  unless  what 
he  valued  most  be  counted  —  the  vision  of  a  free 
republic  under  a  constitutional  government,  which 
he  was  permitted  to  behold  before  his  death. 

While,  therefore,  we  may  smile  with  his  contem 
poraries  at  his  harmless  love  of  display  and  of 
official  position,  we  may  remember  also  that  there 
was  a  generous  side  in  his  almost  indiscriminate 
hospitality,  and  in  his  sacrifice  of  time  and  money 
for  the  public  weal.  If  he  was  vain,  it  will  be 
admitted  that  vanity  is  a  common  weakness  with 
different  location  in  one  and  another,  visible  and 
invisible;  and,  moreover,  that  there  were  many 
provocatives  to  self-complacency,  and  numerous 
sycophants  to  feed  and  encourage  it.  If  he  was 
not  a  great  statesman  he  at  least  had  the  tact 
and  patience  to  manage  a  discordant  assembly,  and 
to  keep  them  free  from  initial  disunion,  and  there 
fore  from  eventual  relapse  into  a  worse  subjection 

1  The  front  doors  of  the  houses  occupied  by  Hancock  and  by 
Phillips  now  stand  side  by  side  in  the  old  State  House, 


344  J°hn  Hancock 

than  at  first,  and  to  bring  them  on  a  part  of  the 
way  toward  the  beginnings  of  confederacy,  itself  to 
end  in  union.  If  John  Hancock  had  not  lived,  and 
had  not  been  the  man  for  a  trying  position  in  a 
critical  time;  if  he  had  not  given  to  a  democratic 
enterprise  the  aristocratic  following  of  himself  and 
a  few  friends  who  were  influenced  by  his  example, 
thus  furnishing  a  tone  at  which  democracy  pretends 
to  scoff,  but  inwardly  is  glad  to  have  as  an  ally,  as 
well  as  the  funds  that  usually  accompany  respecta 
bility;  if  these  adventitious  elements  had  not 
been  at  the  service  of  a  reactionary  cause  in  the 
rebellious  town  of  Boston  first,  and  throughout  the 
land  afterward,  success  might  possibly  have  fol 
lowed  in  time  and  through  other  men.  But  at 
that  day  it  seemed,  and  even  now  seems,  that 
another  fate  awaited  disagreeing,  half-hearted  pa 
triots  ;  such  as  might  have  befallen  them  if  there 
had  been  no  Robert  Morris  behind  the  treas 
ury  and  no  George  Washington  at  the  head  of 
the  army.  Therefore  as  the  shrewd  financier  had 
a  talent  for  the  business  side  of  war,  and  as  the 
other  had  a  genius  for  military  science  beneath  all 
the  imperfections  that  hypercritical  historians  have 
discovered,  so  let  it  be  admitted  that  underneath 
the  purple  and  fine  linen,  and  despite  his  chariot 
and  six,  John  Hancock  had  a  true-hearted  devotion 
to  liberty,  inspiring  a  diligent,  wise,  and  sincere 
service  of  his  country  for  its  needful  union,  eventual 
independence,  and  ultimate  prosperity. 


INDEX 


ACADIAN  EXILES,  242. 

Act  of  Navigation,  1 10. 

Adams,  Abigail,  205. 

Adams,  John ;  on  Life  of  Han 
cock,  vii;  boyhood,  14;  com 
patriots,  52;  counsel  for  Han 
cock  in  "Liberty"  case,  112; 
delegate  to  Continental  Con 
gress,  140;  conservative,  155; 
starts  for  Congress,  169;  drinks 
Madeira,  174;  describes  journey, 
175;  diary  and  letters,  176; 
on  declaration  committee,  182 ; 
concerning  Mrs.  Hancock,  204 ; 
advocates  Washington  for  com 
mander,  189;  on  southern  dele 
gates,  213;  his  varying  senti 
ments  about  Hancock,  230 
vice-president,  296. 

Adams,  Samuel ;  in  caucus,  65 
elected  representative,  102 
plots,  talks,  and  writes,  112 
in  town-meetings,  117,  121 
starts  committees  of  correspond 
ence,  125;  Hancock  has  his  por 
trait  painted,  126;  leader  in 
revolt,  138;  part  in  Hancock's 
Massacre  oration,  142 ;  locks 
in  the  Salem  Assembly,  149 ; 
elected  delegate  to  Continental 
Congress,  149;  arrives  in  Phil 
adelphia,  153;  field-piece  named 
for  him,  158;  prudence  at 
Lexington,  162 ;  excepted  from 
amnesty,  163;  sense  of  Han 
cock's  value,  163;  flight  to 
Woburn,  166;  starts  for  second 
Congress,  169;  dislike  of  parade, 
175;  his  new  suit,  178;  nomi 
nates  Hancock  for  president, 


178;  seconds  Washington's 
nomination,  190;  defeats  mo 
tion  of  thanks  to  Hancock, 
226;  loses  governorship,  267; 
estrangement  from  Hancock, 
268 ;  opposed  to  Federal  Con 
stitution,  287 ;  finally  moves 
its  adoption,  288 ;  debt  to  town 
of  Boston,  312;  at  Hancock's 
funeral,  324. 

Agents,  London,  69. 

Allen,  Ethan,  170. 

Amusements  in  colonial  Boston, 
58,  66. 

Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery, 
158. 

Ancient  classics,  familiarity  with,  53. 

Army  before  Boston,  186. 

Arnold,  Benedict,  170,  238. 

Attire,  Hancock's,  78,  88. 

Attucks,  Crispus,  118. 

Autograph,  Hancock's,  24,  25. 

BALTIMORE,  Congress  and  Mrs. 
Hancock  in,  215. 

Beacon  Hill,  16. 

Belknap,  Jeremy,  24. 

Bernard,   Governor,  105,  in,  120. 

Booksellers  in  Boston,  52,  54. 

Boston,  commercial  and  social, 
45.  67 ;  port  closed,  146 ;  town 
records,  23,  312. 

Bowdoin,  James,  52,  159,  281, 
282,  283,  284. 

Bows  and  arrows,  Franklin's  pro 
posal  to  use,  184. 

Braintree,  Old,  i,  9. 

Braintree  town  records,  9. 

Brattle  Street  Church,  Hancock's 
gifts  to,  131,  326. 


34-6 


Index 


British  Empire  in  reign  of  George 
III,  72. 

Brown,  Abram  English,  vii. 

Banyan's  types  in  revolutionary 
days,  155. 

Burgoyne,  General,  177;  his  sur 
render,  214. 

Burr,  Aaron,  202,  330. 

Burr,  Thaddeus,  199,  203;  Mrs., 
daughter  of  Jonathan  Edwards, 
202. 

Bute,  Earl  of,  74,  75,  82,  83. 

CAMBRIDGE,  27,  120,  123,  146, 
156,  193,  295;  ferry,  146. 

Canada,   Loyalists  in,   242-248. 

Castle  William,  in,  121,  135,  170. 

Caucuses,  65. 

Ceremony  between  Washington 
and  Hancock,  295. 

Chamberlain  Mss.,  viii,  108. 

Charleston,  S.C.,  276. 

Charlestown,  156;  ferry,  305. 

Charlotte,  Queen,  80. 

Chatham,  97. 

Cheever,  Ezekiel,  22. 

Church  of  England  in  colonies, 
7,  8 ;  clergy  of,  243. 

Classics,  English,  53. 

Classmates  of  Hancock,  41. 

College  costumes,  31. 

Colonial  and  national  periods,  210. 

Colonial  jealousies,  213;  senti 
ment,  92. 

Colony  and  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts,  276. 

Commencement  Day  at  Harvard, 
27  ;  orations,  33  ;  festivities,  30, 34. 

Commerce,  colonial,  16;  main 
issue  at  first,  186. 

Commerce  of  Boston,  47. 

Commercial  and  political  condi 
tions  in  1760,  87. 

Committee  of  Safety,  145. 

Committees  of  Correspondence, 
125,  171- 

Common,  Boston,  62. 

Complaints  against  royal  orders,  67. 


Concession,  American  demand  for 
royal,  98. 

Concord,  160. 

Confederation  96 ;  plans  and 
schemes  for,  94,  209,  214,  229. 

Congress,  Provincial,  149. 

Conservatives  in  revolution,  115, 
1 80. 

Constitution,  Federal,  in  Mas 
sachusetts,  285 ;  Hancock's  sup 
port  of,  286 ;  opposition  to, 
286 ;  ratification  of,  by  small 
majority,  288;  effect  of,  288. 

Constitution  of  Massachusetts,  265. 

Continental  Congress,  149;  do 
ings  of  first,  152;  celebrities 
in  second,  177;  indecision, 
181 ;  limitations,  180;  compo 
sition  of,  179;  deterioration 
in,  212,  238;  differences  in,  212. 

Continental  money,  278. 

Copley's  portraits  of  Adams  and 
Hancock,  126. 

Cornwallis,  262. 

Coronation  of  George  III,  80. 

Costumes,  32,  275. 

Cotton,  John,  21. 

Curwen's  Journal,  174,  248. 

Gushing,  Thomas,  115,  125. 

DANCING  in  Boston,  63. 

Deane,  Silas,  entertains  dele 
gates,  152. 

D'Grasse,  Count,  262. 

Degrees,  academic,  and  honors 
conferred  upon  Hancock,  42. 

Delegates  to  Continental  Con 
gress,  149;  departure  of,  152. 

Democratic  and  mob  element  in 
beginning  of  revolution,  118, 
121,  135,  147. 

Descendant,  Hancock  had  no 
lineal,  328. 

D'Estaing,  Count,  250,  252,  261. 

Disagreement  among  patriots,  123. 

Discontent  in  Massachusetts,  282. 

Dramatic  performances  in  Boston, 
62. 


Index 


347 


Drinking,  64. 

Drummond,  Governor,  207. 
Duche,    chaplain    of    Congress,    a 
Loyalist,  153. 

EAST  INDIA  COMPANY,  134. 136, 149- 

Edwards,  Jonathan,  19,  202. 

Eliot,  John,  204. 

England,  the  old  home  of  col 
onists,  71. 

England's  supremacy  in  1760,  83. 

English  classics  not  in  general 
favor  with  colonials,  108. 

FANEUIL  HALL,  55,  60,  102,  115, 

126;  Market,  56. 
Faneuil,  Peter,  55. 
Ferry  towards  Harvard,  26. 
Fish  trade  of  Boston,  48. 
Fourth  of  July,  138,  234. 
Fox,  Charles  James,  81. 
France  in  revolutionary  war,  250- 

264;  treaty  with,  182,  237. 
Franklin,   Benjamin,   19,   97,    104, 

127,  129,  151,  182,  183,  245,  280. 
French    aid,    261,    263;     alliance, 

253;  irritation,  258;  troops,  251. 
French  in  Canada,  95. 
Friends  of  America,  84. 

GAGE,   GENERAL,    146,    147,    156, 

157,  160. 

Gardiner,  Sir  Christopher,  5. 
Gates,  General,  277. 
General  Court,  51,  64. 
Generals,  first  three  chosen,  156. 
George  II,  73,  74,  ?6,  82. 
George  III,  85,  103,  117,  134,  i57> 

178. 

Gerard,  French  minister,  176 
Gorges'  claim,  4. 
Greene,  General,  250,  258. 
Greenough  Mss.,  x,  43. 
Grove,  Mary,  5. 

HALIFAX,  242,  246. 

Hampshire  county,  156. 

Hancock  arms,  13;  genealogy,  12. 


Hancock,  Rev.  John,  12 ;  Mary, 
13,  42  ;  Ebenezer,  76. 

Hancock,  John,  children,  13,  320; 
heir  to  uncle's  estate,  89  ;  house, 
14;  synopsis  of  career,  ix  and 
as  follows :  — 

born  Jan.  16,  1737,  13 ;  at 
school  with  John  Adams,  14 ; 
adopted  by  his  uncle  Thomas, 
15  ;  books  and  reading,  19 ;  in 
Latin  School,  20-34 ',  in  Harvard, 
26-43 ;  in  business,  44 ;  in  Lon 
don,  68 ;  letters  home,  76-80 ;  sees 
celebrities  and  pageants,  72;  re 
turns  to  Boston,  85 ;  taken  into 
partnership,  87 ;  assumes  charge 
after  uncle's  death,  90;  pro 
tests  against  Stamp  Act,  100; 
rejoices  over  its  repeal,  104; 
gives  books  to  Harvard  College, 
107 ;  provokes  Britain  to  first 
act  of  violence  in  seizure  of  the 
"Liberty,"  in;  chosen  repre 
sentative  to  legislature,  120; 
chairman  of  committee  of  seven, 
121 ;  selectman,  122;  employs 
Copley  to  paint  Sam  Adams's 
portrait  and  his  own,  126 ;  makes 
capital  of  loyalist  letters,  128; 
gifts  to  Brattle  Street  Church, 
131;  appointed  captain  of  Gov 
ernor's  Guard,  132;  his  part  in  the 
destruction  of  tea,  136 ;  Massacre 
orator,  138 ;  reviled  by  pamphlet 
eers,  143;  wins  applause  for 
oration,  144;  chosen  selectman, 
firewarden,  and  representative, 
145 ;  most  notable  member  of 
Committee  of  Safety,  145;  not 
delegate  to  first  Continental 
Congress,  150;  busy  with  home 
affairs,  152;  president  of  Pro 
vincial  Congress,  157 ;  chairman 
of  Committee  of  Safety,  156; 
omits  mention  of  king  in  proc 
lamation,  157;  president  of 
second  Provincial  Congress,  158; 
demands  field-pieces,  158;  can- 


Index 


Hancock,  John,  Continued. 
non  named  for  him,  159 ;  elected 
to  second  Continental  Congress, 
159;  in  Lexington,  161 ;  a 
lover,  164;  ready  to  fight,  162; 
wanted  by  the  British,  162 ; 
excepted  from  amnesty,  163 ; 
presence  of  Dorothy  Quincy, 
164;  leaves  for  Congress,  167; 
letter  to  Committee  of  Safety, 
169;  to  fiance'e,  171;  entrance 
into  New  York,  172 ;  into  Phila 
delphia,  174;  credentials,  177; 
elected  president  of  Congress, 
179;  as  a  chairman,  181 ; 
appoints  committees,  182 ;  chair 
man  of  committee  on  navy, 
183;  vexations,  1 86;  equanimity, 
187 ;  aspires  to  military  com 
mand,  1 88;  disappointed,  190; 
commends  Washington,  190; 
offers  services,  191 ;  signs  Wash 
ington's  commission,  193 ;  elected 
to  General  Court  and  council, 
195;  writes  to  colonial  legisla 
tures,  and  army  officers,  195 ; 
letters  to  Dorothy  Quincy,  196- 
200 ;  marriage,  203 ;  invites 
Washington  to  his  home  in 
Arch  Street,  205;  attack  of 
ceremonial  gout,  206;  trials  as 
president  of  Congress,  212,  214; 
health  impaired,  215;  birth  of 
daughter,  215;  letters  to  wife, 
218,  219;  domestic  inconven 
iences,  221 ;  more  letters  to 
Dorothy,  223-227;  asks  leave 
of  absence  from  Congress,  225 ; 
estrangement  from  Sam  Adams, 
226;  arrives  in  Boston,  228; 
appreciation  by  Washington, 
232;  presides  at  anniversary  of 
Massacre,  234;  and  in  town- 
meetings,  234;  elected  repre 
sentative,  234 ;  returns  to  Con 
gress,  235 ;  chairman  of  com 
mittee  on  return  of  Loyalists, 
239;  answer,  243;  commis 


sioned  major-general  of  militia, 
249;  leads  militia  to  Rhode 
Island,  250;  conciliates  the 
French  in  a  critical  time,  253  ; 
attack  by  Stephen  Higginson, 
257 ;  hospitality  to  French  fleet 
259 ;  in  General  Court  and  town- 
meetings,  261 ;  representative  to 
Constitutional  Convention,  266; 
elected  first  governor  of  Com 
monwealth  of  Massachusetts, 
266;  inaugural  address,  269; 
display  of  inauguration  week, 
272 ;  furnishing  of  table  and 
house,  274;  sacrifices  to  revo 
lution,  275 ;  urges  payment  of 
soldiers,  280;  health  affected 
and  resigns,  281 ;  representative 
to  General  Court,  281 ;  delegate 
to  Congress  again,  281 ;  Shays' 
Rebellion,  283  ;  contrasted  with 
Governor  Bowdoin,  284;  re- 
elected  governor,  284;  reduces 
his  salary,  284;  president  of 
Constitutional  Convention,  285  ; 
secures  adoption  of  Constitution, 
286 ;  his  share  in  securing  union 
of  states,  288;  re-elected  gov 
ernor,  290;  treatment  of  Gen 
eral  Lincoln,  290;  indorses 
complimentary  address  to  Wash 
ington,  291 ;  commends  Har 
vard  and  education  to  legisla 
ture,  292 ;  county  and  towns 
named  for  him,  293 ;  dignity 
and  ceremony  between  Wash 
ington  and  Hancock,  295  ;  views 
of  respective  positions,  300 ; 
asks  for  reimbursement  as  presi 
dent,  in  vain,  302 ;  treasurer 
of  Harvard,  302 ;  neglects  ap 
peals,  305 ;  commends  College 
to  legislature,  308 ;  offers  to 
build  fence,  309;  presents  wine 
to  President  Willard,  310; 
exchange  of  compliments  by 
College  and  Governor,  313; 
advocates  states'  rights,  314; 


Index 


349 


Hancock,  John,  Continued. 

urges  abolition  of  slavery,  316; 
opposes  lotteries,  317;  and  the 
atres,  318;  would  enforce  ob 
servance  of  Lord's  Day,  319; 
his  misfortunes,  320;  contends 
for  rights  of  Commonwealth, 
321;  Constitution  of  United 
States  amended  in  consequence, 
322 ;  final  address  to  legislature, 
323;  death,  323;  eulogy  by 
Dr.  Thacher,  325 ;  memorial 
voted  by  Commonwealth  after 
one  hundred  years,  327;  dedi 
cated,  328 ;  place  in  history,  331 ; 
inherited  traits,  332;  value  to 
cause,  334;  estimate  of  charac 
ter  and  services,  343. 

Hancock,  Mrs.  Dorothy  Quincy, 
wife  of  John,  164,  165,  167,  168, 
199,  200-205,  2I5  5  letters  to, 
215-228,  235,  329- 

Hancock,  Mrs.  Lydia  Henchman, 
wife  of  Thomas,  15,  16,  20,  90, 
161,  164,  165,  167,  199,  202,  204. 

Hancock,  Thomas,  uncle  of  John, 
15;  bookseller,  16;  builds  man 
sion  on  Beacon  Hill,  16;  founds 
professorship  at  Harvard,  18; 
adopts  John,  44;  store  by  the 
drawbridge,  54;  sends  John  to 
London,  68;  letters,  69;  ad 
mits  John  to  partnership,  87; 
gout  and  death,  89;  bulk  of 
estate  to  John,  89;  books  left 
to  Harvard,  108,  303. 

Harrison,  B.,  213. 

Hartford,  16,  170. 

Harvard  College,  18;  degrees,  34; 
diet,  38 ;  dress,  39 ;  laws,  35  ;  life 
in,  28 ;  studies,  34,  36 ;  Hancock 
treasurer  of,  302. 

Hawley,  Joseph,  106,  113,  117,  123, 
125,  151- 

Hawthorne,  60. 

Hebraic  literature,  19 ;   names,  46. 

Henchman,  Daniel,  15,  54. 

Higginson,  Stephen,  124,  254,  311. 


Holyoke,  President  of  Harvard,  32. 
Honors  for  Hancock,  122. 
Hospitality,  Hancock's,  104,  259. 
Hutchinson,  Governor  Thomas,  66, 
118,  124,  126,  145,  146,  312. 

INDEPENDENCE,  assertion  of,  237; 
declaration  of,  182;  predictions 
and  prophecies  of,  by  French  and 
English,  97 ;  transition  from 
demand  of  reform  to,  185  ;  slow 
movement  towards,  185,  187, 
21 1 ;  struggle  with  loyal  senti 
ments,  95. 

Indians,  Stockbridge,  19,  184. 

Individualism,  colonial,  210. 

Insurgency,  i-io. 

Intrigues,  238. 

JAMAICA  PLAIN,  112,  131,  321. 
Jealousies,  colonial,  211;    in  Con 
gress,  179,  1 86,  213. 
Jefferson,  Thomas,  151,  182. 

"KING  HANCOCK,"  91. 
King  Street,  49. 
King's  Chapel,  8,  21. 

"LACO,"  254,  311. 

Lafayette,  250,  261,  263,  295,  310. 

Latin  School,  20,  21,  22,  25. 

Latin  to  be  spoken,  41 ;  familiar 
ity  with,  52. 

Lecture,  the  Thursday,  27,  62,  66. 

Lee,  General  Charles,  176, 185,  238, 
250. 

Lee,  R.  H.,  mover  of  Declaration, 
182. 

Lennox,  Lady  Sarah,  80. 

Letters  by  John  Hancock,  42,  76, 
77.  78,  79,  85,  92,  99-103,  107, 
130,  136,  169-173,  195-198,  200, 
205,  207,  215-227,  235,  295,  298, 

305,  300- 

Letters  of  loyalists,  127;  in  Han 
cock's  hands,  128. 

Leverett,  President  of  Harvard,  25. 

Lexington,  22 ;  British  losses  at,  167. 


35° 


Index 


"Liberty,"  the,  Hancock's  sloop, 
101,  no,  112,  IIQ,  120,  177. 

Library,  Hancock's,  109. 

Lincoln,  General,  283,  290. 

Lotteries,  312,  317. 

Lovell,  James,  22  ;  John,  22,  57. 

Loyalists,  59,  139,  141,  186,  238, 
248,  279;  letters  of,  127. 

Loyalty,  67 ;  professions  of,  98, 
103,  105,  155,  157. 

Lumber  trade,  47. 

MADEIRA  WINES,  56,  no. 

Magdalen  Charity,  86. 

Mall,  the,  62. 

Mansfield,  Earl  of,  74,  104. 

Marchant,  Henry,  176. 

Masonic  fraternity  in  Boston,  64. 

Massacre,  the  Boston,  118, 121,  133, 
138. 

Mather,  Cotton,  22,  53 ;  Increase,  68. 

Merry  Mount,  3. 

Militia  called  out,  160. 

Misapprehension  of  American  sen 
timent,  185. 

Mobs  in  Boston,  146,  147. 

Montague,  Admiral,  125. 

Morton,  Thomas,  2,  4. 

Mother  country,  colonials  love  for, 
1 80. 

Murray,  James,  243. 

Musters  of  militia,  63. 

OIL  TRADE,  88,  90. 

Olive  branch  commission,  237. 

Oliver,  lieutenant-governor,  129. 

Oppressive  measures,  147. 

Orations,  Commencement,  40 ;  Mas 
sacre,  138. 

Oratory  of  Revolution,  144. 

Orthography  of  the  period,  91. 

Otis,  James,  107,  113,  114,  117, 
124,  126. 

PATRIOTISM,  Hancock's,  99. 
"Packett,  the  Boston,"  88. 
Parties,  revolutionary,  in  America 
and  England,  118. 


Partisan  warfare,  244. 

Peerage    for    Hancock,    doubtful, 

124,  191. 

Percy,  Earl,  22,  249,  329. 
Petitions  to  the  king,  155,  186,  187. 
Philadelphia,   arrival   of   delegates 

in,  153,  174;    the  Hancocks  in, 

204,  215. 

Phillips,  Wendell,  342. 
Pigott,  Sir  Robert,  250. 
Pitt,  William,  74,  75,  82-84. 
Popularity  of  Hancock,  156,  191. 
Pormont,  Philemon,  21. 
Port  Bill,  147,  151,  304. 
Pownall,  Governor,  69,  70,  71. 
Prescott,  Richard,  249. 
Prices  of  provisions,  61. 
Province  House,  60. 
Punitive  measures,  147. 
Puritan  divines,  52. 

QUINCY,  DOROTHY,  126,  164,  167, 

177,  199,  200,  223,  225. 
Quincy,  Edmunji,  9,  164,  199. 
Quincy,  town  of,  n. 

RANDOLPH,  178,  182. 

Reading,  colonial,  5 3 ;  Hancock's,  20. 

Rebellion,  New  England  declared 
in,  157- 

Reconciliation  urged,  187. 

Relief  sent  by  other  colonies,  147. 

Representation  in  Parliament,  146. 

Repressive  measures,  the  five,  147. 

Revere,  Paul,  161. 

Revolution,  beginning  of,  112. 

Revolutionary  radicals,  115. 

Rhode  Island  and  Massachusetts,  96. 

Rhode  Island  first  to  choose  dele 
gates  to  Congress,  148. 

"Richard  III"  in  Boston,  318. 

Rights  and  grievances,  declaration 
of,  126,  154. 

Riots,  102,  105,  283. 

Rochambeau,  Count,  261,  262. 

"Romney,"  the  frigate,  in,  119. 

Ropewalks  and  revolution,  48. 

Rum  distilling,  48,  266,  315. 


Index 


351 


SALEM,  149;  Congress  at,  156. 

School  books,  Hancock's,  23. 

Scott,  Captain  James,  329; 
Madam,  329,  330. 

Separatism,  210. 

Sewall,  Judge,  10,  19,  72. 

Ship  building,  47. 

Shipping,  colonial,  45. 

Signature,  Hancock's,  vii,  24,  183. 

Slavery,  colonial,  182,  266,  285,  315. 

Slave  trade,  47,  134,  155. 

Smuggling,  55,  119. 

Social  diversions,  59. 

Sons  of  Liberty,  66. 

South,  the,  246. 

South  Carolina,  154. 

South  Church,  Old,  60. 

Sports,  62,  63. 

Springfield,  193,  276,  283,  297. 

Stamp  Act,  94,  95,  100,  101,  103 ; 
repeal  of,  104. 

State  House,  51,  321. 

States'  rights,  210,  265;  sover 
eignty,  285,  294. 

Steuben,  Baron,  264. 

Storm,  the  great,  251. 

Sugar  trade,  48. 

Sunday  observance,  58. 

TAVERNS,  63,  64. 

Taxation,  84,  85,  96,  133. 

Taxed  tea,  133. 

Tea,  destruction  of,  146. 

Tea  drinking,  62,  63. 

Tea,  duties  on,  135;  use  of  ab 
jured,  134. 

Tea  plot,  the,  66. 

Theatrical  performances,  317. 

Thursday  lecture,  27,  58. 

Ticonderoga,  170,  177. 

Tories,  103,  116,  122,  239,  241, 
242,  244. 

Tory  element  in  Congress,  181. 

Tory  troops,  244;  view  of  revo 
lution,  240. 

Town  House,  50,  60,  115;  fre 
quenters  of,  52. 

Town-meetings,  50,  135. 


Townshend,  105. 

Trade,  New  England,  87;  sus 
pension  of,  155. 

Transfer  of  authority  from  royal 
governor,  157. 

Treason,  116. 

Troops  in  Boston,  114,  115,  147. 

UNION,     groping     towards,     211; 

beginnings  of,  155  ;  plan  for,  154. 
Union  with  Great  Britain,  schemes 

for  preserving,  95,  237. 

VANDALISM,  66,  327. 

Vassal  vs.  Commonwealth,  321. 

Veazy,  Lieutenant,  8. 

Vergennes,  263. 

Virginia,  legislature,  178. 

WALPOLE,  HORACE,  74,  80. 

Wark worth  Castle,  329. 

Warren,  Joseph,  65,  113,  120,  138, 
155,  161,  187. 

Washington,  professions  of  loy 
alty,  155;  offers  to  raise  a 
regiment,  155;  nomination  to 
be  commander-in-chief,  189;  let 
ters  to  Hancock,  192,  206,  231; 
declines  his  invitation,  207; 
intriguers  against,  in  army  and 
Congress,  237;  visit  to  Boston, 

295- 

Westminster  Hall,  75. 
Wharf,  Hancock's,  49. 
Wharves,  49. 
Whigs,  115,  122,  239. 
Wilkes,  John,  81. 
Wines,  17,  115. 
Winthrop,  John,  21. 
Wolcott,  Governor,  vii,  328. 
Wollaston,  Captain,  2 ;   Mount,  2. 
Worcester,  156,  169,  170,  295. 

YALE,  gives  degree  to  Hancock,  42. 
Yorktown,  223,  235 ;  surrender,  262. 

"Z.  Z.,"  the  Tory  maligner  of 
Hancock,  117. 


FOURTEEN  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 


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